


Down With The Rickness

by arcanesupernova



Series: Rick In The Water Series [2]
Category: Rick and Morty
Genre: Drinking, Episode: s03e04 Vindicators 3: The Return of Worldender, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Protective!Rick fic, Rick N-682, Rick is still way too sensitive, Suicidal Ideation, Updates wheneverly, feedback helps with updates, hes still a dick to everyone else, no incest ever, recovery from domestic abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-13
Updated: 2019-11-12
Packaged: 2020-12-16 04:42:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 28,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21030431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arcanesupernova/pseuds/arcanesupernova
Summary: Following the death of her husband, Nova struggles with life going forward, including unwelcome intrusions from her parents and lame ass superheroes. Good thing she's got Rick by her side... right?





	1. Such Small Hands

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nova keeps having nightmares after her attack by Ryan so Beth and Rick go on a little bit of a deep diving expedition to figure out if they can figure out what's wrong with that poor girl, aside from the obvious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is part two of a series, but these two chapters have already been posted over on the original story page. I've moved them to a new story because I truly felt that story was finished and in order to continue the story in the way I wanted I was going to have separate the story out a little bit. Outside of this author note, everything is just copypasted over. I truly hope you understand my reasons for doing it this way. I just felt the "Ryan" part of the story was over and I was ready to move onto Nova's recovery process now. Thank you so much for reading. ♥
> 
> You like italics? Cuz here's a bunch of freaking italics because I set a precedent that dreams happen in italics and this whole goddamn chapter is about dreams so if I go back on that now then what do I even stand for anymore?
> 
> 12/1/2020: Changed the name of the chapter.

_ I was back in my house, preparing dinner. A form-fitting black 50’s style dress, specifically bought for me by Ryan, hugged my curves with a long white apron to protect it from any ricochet while I worked. It would be my head if I ruined this dress, Ryan had his boss coming for dinner after all. I brought the finished meal out to the dining room, taking a moment to mourn the mounted heads from my previous acts of insolence before I finished straightening the cutlery one last time. Once everything was perfectly set, I slipped out of my dress, folding it neatly on my chair before climbing up onto the table to lie nude on the large serving dish at the center of the table just before Ryan and his boss entered, eyeing me hungrily. I closed my eyes, praying they would make it quick. Ryan’s eyes traced over my submissive form, sharpening his carving knife as he explained to his boss the true delicacy he would be treated to tonight. There was nothing quite like a quiet and submissive wife. His eyes glittered with malice as he drove it sharply into my stomach. I gasped at the pain, earning a backhanded slap for my interruption. Tears welled at the stinging in my cheek and the searing pain in my gut but it was all pain I had experienced time and time again. Ryan moved further up my body, slicing off a breast for his boss, insisting it was the finest cut. I was silent this time and in return, he curled his hand in my hair in praise. He looked me over malevolently one last time before raising the blade over my head and bringing it down sharply as I let out a scream of anguish. _

* * *

“Nova, baby, you’re okay,” a familiar gruff voice soothed me, holding me in their arms we rocked back and forth. “Sweetheart, I’ve got you. I won’t let anything happen to you ever again, I promise.”

“R-Ryan…” I croaked, my cheeks soaked with tears, “H-He-”

“Baby, I know.” The voice sounded strangled as the hair was moved from my eyes, wiping away my tears as he did. My eyes finally opened and I found Rick above me, staring off ahead of him as he continued to sway back and forth. “My poor sweet girl.”

“R-Rick?” Convinced he was just another dream, I extended my hand out to him, caressing his face gently as he nuzzled into my palm. I guided him down to me, pressing my lips to his desperately. I could taste the vodka on his breath as he pulled me closer, his passion getting the better of him. I missed this, I missed the taste of him but I was surprised it was coming across so vividly in a dream.

“Oh, Nova,” he cooed, pressing his forehead to mine when our lips broke apart, “Nova, I’m so sorry.”

“R-Rick?” I asked again, willing my limbs to move, “Are you really here?”

“I’m here, Nova. You were crying in your sleep again. I-I j-just wanted to h-help.” He brushed my hair down again, marveling down at me.

“W-Will you stay?” I asked hesitantly, finally sitting up to look at him through sleepy eyes.

He shifted nervously, looking around before nodding sharply. He kicked off his shoes and hung his jacket on the hook on the back of the door before climbing into bed with me. Holding out his arm as an invitation, I threw him the remote before crawling in next to him and nuzzling into his chest. The smell of him, alcohol, his aftershave, and a dull burning smell, overwhelmed my senses and allowed me to relax into him. He flipped through the channels, cursing himself for not putting an interdimensional cable box in here for me. He settled on a cartoon about a grey alien, absently playing with my hair as he chuckled at the TV.

“H-Hard to believe that this is the f-first time we’ve actually done this, i-isn’t it?” He murmured, twirling a long strand around his finger gently.

“Don’t know why we waited so long,” I told him, yawning before snuggling closer as he pulled me in tight. “A-Are you going to be here when I wake up?”

“Of course baby, of course.”

* * *

_ Trees surrounded us, accompanied only by the moonlight, offering just enough poor visibility to offer us the privacy we so desperately craved. Rick’s hands searched me desperately, trying their hardest to know every inch and every curve as they inched further down my waistline. My hands cupped his face, bringing it to mine to taste him. A small snap registered on my radar but Rick continued his full-body exploration, his mouth leaving mine to trail down my neck. My back arched at the sensation, offering more of my body to him in exchange for the feel of his skin on mine never ending. He took the trade eagerly, ripping my shirt open to continue his kisses further down, stopping abruptly above my navel. _

_ “N-Nova, what happened?” he asked fearfully, his eyes darting up to mine before shooting back down. My insides were on display for the world to see, a large gaping wound framing them. _

_ “It’s okay, my love,” I assured him softly, leaning forward again to pick up where he left off. He recoiled back, pulling away from me completely as he stared at me, completely horrified. _

_ “B-Baby, I’m sorry,” he confessed, pulling a dripping blade from behind him, “I’ll just have to be more careful next time.” _

_ “It’s not your fault, my love,” I cooed, kissing his face, moving slowly back to his mouth. _

_ He returned the kiss this time, laying me back and hovering over me. I could feel him encapsulating me, his warmth and presence taking precedence over my own and I just wanted more. He had pulled away for just a moment to survey the sight lying beneath him, a look of sadness covering his features when a large wooden spike pierced him through his stomach. A warm spray coated me as I screamed in horror and he was lifted off of me to reveal a large shadowed figure. I screamed in horror for Rick, desperately reaching out for him to pull him back to me. The figure tossed Rick’s corpse carelessly to the side and took up his place over my now cowering form. I tried to crawl back, do anything I could to get away from him because at this distance I could see the form was Ryan. His eyes glittered with that same malicious glint as he pulled out another long wooden spike from behind him. _

_ “I told you (Y/N), he can’t save you.” In one swift movement, he plunged the stake into my chest, cackling as my screams echoed around the trees. _

* * *

“RICK!” I screamed as I shot up straight, feeling around my chest desperately for the wound that had felt so real just moments ago. My room was painfully empty, though a warmth beside me assured me it hadn’t been for long. A portal opened directly in the center and Rick stepped through, a concerned look on his face.

“N-Nova, I’m sorry,” he sputtered, looking me over regretfully. A sudden knock on the door startled us both and I hadn’t even fully recovered before Beth pushed her way in surveying the room defensively. Once she realized there was no immediate threat, she let out a long sigh of relief before rushing to my side.

“Nova! Sweetie, are you okay?” she asked as she sat down on the bed. I nodded quickly, but she didn’t seem to believe my lie. She pulled me into her embrace, rocking back and forth and carrying me along at a soothing pace. 

“Dad, you have to do something, there has to be something you can do to help her with these nightmares.”

“I-I don’t know, I mean- I could go into them- try to quell the fear but I don’t know how much good it would do,” he offered, looking at me as if for permission. I couldn’t quite meet his gaze, my hands still searching desperately for the ghost of a wound that I could still feel.

“Au-Aunt Nova, are you okay?” Morty asked, peeking his head around the door.

“I’m fine kiddo,” I told him, my voice betraying me as it trembled.

“M-Morty, I need you to go get the inception transceivers, top shelf of my garage. Should be the first box, second drawer,” he listed off carefully, growing more and more frustrated as the boy stayed rooted to the spot.

“I-I don’t know if th-that’s such a good idea, R-Rick,” he admitted hesitantly, “A-Aren’t those dangerous?”

“Do you want to help your Aunt or not, Morty?” Rick growled, standing up menacingly and towering over the boy. 

“W-We almost died last time a-and if R-Ryan is in there- I just don’t think it’s a good idea,” he continued despite the growing waver in his voice.

“W-We’ll be fine Morty,” Rick told him dismissively as he turned back to me. “You’ll have to go back to sleep but I’ll be there a-and I’ll protect you.”

“R-Rick-” Morty started again, earning him a frustrated growl from his grandfather.

“Dad, if Morty doesn’t want to go, let me,” Beth offered, cutting off Rick from launching into another tangent, “You got to have all the fun last time, I’ve always wanted a chance to give that piece of shit what’s been coming to him-”

“N-No, Beth,” I injected, blushing furiously as the first half of my most recent dream flashed before my eyes. “I-I don’t want you t-to see.”

“What? Do you have dreams about Dad?” She asked, her eyes growing wide before returning to steely resolve. “It’s fine Nova, I promise, I’m not going to judge you.”

“Rick-”

“Nova, no, I’m going. You and Dad need my help,” she declared. 

My eyes darted between Rick and Beth, trying desperately to get him to convince her otherwise, to no avail. I slumped back onto my bed, crossing my arms as Rick sent Morty to fetch the dream inceptor. He and Beth started discussing logistics, things to know and things to remember as I sat in my slump. It wasn’t so much that I didn’t want Beth’s help but I also didn’t want her going through my subconscious and deriving meaning where there was none.

“Morty said it’s dangerous.” I tried to reason with them, cutting through their conversation. 

Beth eyed me carefully before standing up abruptly and leaving the room, presumably to go change out of her pajamas and into something more suitable for an adventure. Rick looked over at me, observing me carefully before sitting down on the bed next to me.

“N-Nova-”

“Rick, I don’t care what she says, I don’t want her going through my dreams. I don’t want you to either for that matter.” I huffed. “Not only that, but Morty said it’s dangerous. What am I supposed to do if something bad happens to you- What if Ryan kills the two of you again?”

“Nova, you need to trust us. These dreams aren’t going to stop until we sort them out and work through them with you. It’s just a lot easier to do that from inside,” he insisted. “There is nothing in your head that’s going to make me think any less of you.”

“You say that now…” I trailed off, looking back down at my hands. “It’s just incredibly personal, promise me that you won’t make fun of me for anything you see in there.”

“I don’t know what kind of man you take me for Nova,” he grumbled, giving me a sarcastic smile. “Look, I promise on pain of death, unless I see something that’s truly funny like an elephant riding a unicycle, nothing I see in your head will be the butt of a joke. You can trust me.” I didn’t respond but nodded softly and rested my head on his shoulder. “I just want to help you, I didn’t before but I’m going to now.”

“You really have to stop beating yourself up over that,” I told him flatly, rolling my eyes and pulling away. “It’s over now. I’m here, Madi’s here and he’s not. I’m not mad at you for it. You came through for me in the end.”

It was his turn to stay silent as he stared at the wall, completely lost in his thoughts. Beth and Morty returned finally, Morty wearing an apprehensive look that probably mirrored mine as Beth looked me over, a little more excited than she probably meant.

“Mom, you know you can die in there right?” Morty reminded her again, staring at the box nervously.

“It’s going to take a lot more than some wife-beating bitch to kill me,” she assured her son darkly, reaching out for the box. She looked up at me from the box expectantly as though I was supposed to pass out immediately.

“You do realize I literally just woke up, right?” I reminded her, annoyed at her eagerness to go digging around in my dreams. 

“Shit, I didn’t even think of that,” Rick swore, tearing out of the room in a hurry. He returned holding a small can of aerosol, the sight alone had me crawling up the bed away from him.

“R-Rick, no. Every time that shit’s been used on me things have not ended well,” I reminded him darkly. 

“Nova, it’s okay,” he assured me again, “I’m not some mourning Rick or some psychopathic Morty-”

“Wait, what?” Beth cut in, confused.

“Just trust me,” he cooed softly. I sighed again, relaxing back onto the bed as he sprayed the aerosol in my face, knocking me out again.

* * *

+Rick+

* * *

I watched dutifully over Nova as she slept, waiting for her eyelids to start moving, signaling she’d finally entered her REM sleep. In the meantime Beth busied over her, making sure she was perfectly comfortable. Trying to do anything that could kill time, she even gathered her laundry and started a load. I could feel my frustration growing but Beth was going to be a hell of a lot more help than Morty. 

“She’s ready,” I announced as Beth started reorganizing Nova’s underwear drawer. She leapt up eagerly, extending her hand out for one of the receptors. I withheld it a moment, much to her frustration.

“Come on Dad, she’s not going to be asleep forever,” she complained, holding her hand out again more forcefully.

“I don’t care what you see in there, do not make fun of Nova for it,” I growled darkly, giving her a serious look.

“I wouldn’t-”

“I wasn’t saying you would, I was saying don’t,” I told her flatly. She groaned but nodded, extending her hand again. This time I relented with one last serious look, placing the master inceptor in Nova’s ear and a receiver in my own. I turned the dial, collapsing back onto the bed with Nova as Beth slid against the wall.

* * *

_ A long corridor surrounded us and it took me a moment to realize we were in her house if it was as long as a football field. I looked around for Nova, surprised not to find her in the immediate vicinity. _

_ “Where is she?” Beth asked, reading my mind as she searched the hallway for her friend. _

_ “She’s got to be nearby. These things are supposed to drop us right into what she’s experiencing.” I told her, yanking the closest door open. I cringed at the sight within, finding a grisly scene of Nova’s dismembered corpse with Ryan, Madi, Beth and even myself taking our pieces for ourselves. I shut the door quickly, shuddering. _

_ “She really feels that torn apart?” Beth asked, still staring at the door in horror. _

_ “Dreams take feelings and overdramatize them, I wouldn’t try to devise too much serious meaning from anything you see. It’s just her mind’s way of processing things.” _

_ She didn’t say anything else, pulling open another door to yet another grisly sight. This time Nova was strapped into a large bondage cross, her head dangling downward. Another dead Nova. I pulled the door shut again as Ryan lumbered over to her menacingly, stepping out of his pants. The next door held another Nova, firmly secured to a large operating table but this one lifted her head urgently as the door opened. _

_ “Rick! Oh, Rick, help me please!” she cried out, struggling against the straps on her wrists. “I don’t want to forget you again. You’ve come for me, you must really love me. Thank you, Rick, thank you,” she wept desperately before a doctor entered the room shaking his head in disapproval.  _

_ “Now now, (Y/N) Rick is not coming for you. You have to let him go,” he told her coldly in a thick German accent. “If you can’t calm down, we’ll have to give you another dose of your medicine.” _

_ “Rick is here! He came to save me from you, you piece of shit!” she insisted, pointing in my direction.  _

_ The doctor merely shook his head again in disapproval, not even bothering to try and verify her claims. He pulled out a large needle, pressing into Nova’s arm as she screamed for me to stop him, to help her. Beth lunged forward, knocking the doctor to the ground and started pummeling into him as I rushed to Nova’s side. _

_ “Are you okay?” I asked urgently, undoing her straps quickly.  _

_ She shook her head and crumbled into ash along with the doctor Beth had been assaulting. The room dissolved around us, placing us in a large field filled with tall flowers. Beth and I looked around for her frantically finding nothing but large stems and vividly reds and blues sprinkled around us. _

_ “Come on, she’s gotta be around here somewhere,” I told Beth gruffly, pushing my way through the tall stalks.  _

_ We emerged in a large clearing, two figures intertwined in the distance. I hesitated, not wanting my curiosity to traumatize Beth any more than need be. Still, my legs propelled me to her when I considered it might not be me, it could very well be Ryan or even just some celebrity she’d taken a shining to lately. My weak personal excuse proved wrong immediately as a blue-haired head made its way down between her thighs.  _

_ “Oh sweet jesus,” Beth murmured, shielding her eyes as we approached. _

_ “This was the kind of shit she was worried about you seeing,” I reminded her flatly as I pushed on. _

_ “Jesus Rick, oh fuck, oh fuck,” she moaned as he lapped her up and I couldn’t fight immediate jealousy swelling in my gut. _

_ “Fuck yeah baby, say my fucking name,” Dream Me groaned into her.  _

_ “Rick!” _

_ “Dad, jesus fucking christ!” Beth bellowed sharply. _

_ The two in front of us looked up quickly, scrambling to cover themselves up at the sight of us. _

_ “R-Rick?” Dream Nova asked, reaching out to me to confirm I was truly there. A devilish smile played at her cheeks as she led me back over to the other Rick. It took a moment as I watched in a haze as her intentions were finally laid clear when she moved to lift my shirt to kiss along my sternum and Dream Rick started kissing around her neck. Jesus christ, this is what she dreams about when it comes to me? _

_ “Jesus christ! Dad, Nova, chill the fuck out!” Beth shouted from behind us, shielding her eyes again. Begrudgingly I pushed Nova back into the arms of Dream Rick, stilling myself with a deep breath as I willed the solidifying urge to give her what she wanted away, _

_ “S-Sorry Beth,” I apologized, not quite looking at her, “F-Forgot where I was for a minute.” _

_ “Let’s just… get this over with,” Beth told me dismissively, looking over to Dream Nova who was currently running her hands up and down her torso. I forced the memory away of the last time I’d seen her doing that, knowing it would only end up making Beth even more uncomfortable. _

_ “Rick, why is Beth so mad at me?” Nova asked, looking between Dream Rick and me. _

_ “She’s not mad, sweetheart,” I assured her. “She just doesn’t want to have to watch this right now.” _

_ “Oh! I’m so sorry Beth, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable,” she apologized urgently.  _

_ Beth smiled over at her with a curt nod in a wordless acceptance of her apology before averting her gaze again. Before Nova could speak again, a loud groan was heard from behind her as Ryan impaled Dream Rick through his torso with a sharpened stalk. Nova screamed in horror at the corpse of her lover, crumbling at his side to weep over him. _

_ “I told you he can’t protect you,” he hissed darkly as he looked her cowered form over. He raised another stalk preparing to bring it down over her head but I stepped in between the two, blocking his attack. His face contorted in rage at the sight of me and actual flames shot out from his nostrils as he huffed. _

_ “You.” _

_ I grabbed the stalk from his grasp, impaling him on it as he howled in pain. In an instant, he was gone, evaporated from existence. I turned back to Nova as she returned to weeping over the dead Rick’s bloodied form. _

_ “Nova, it’s okay, he’s gone,” I told her, offering a hand to help her up. She took it hesitantly, straightening her dress as she looked up at me hopefully. _

_ “He’s gone?” _

_ “It looks like it, he just disappeared,” I affirmed, looking back to where he once stood as she pushed her way into my embrace. I gripped her tightly, allowing her ability to calm me wash over me. Beth watched us awkwardly as Nova pulled away, looking up at me again. _

_ “He’ll never let me rest, Rick. He always comes back,” she urged sadly, “I should’ve just let him kill me. I knew I could never have you.” _

_ “N-Nova-” _

_ “That’s because you can’t. You’re mine.” A disgusting squelch interrupted us and I pulled away, looking for the source. Nova had been impaled from behind, the light fading from her eyes as Ryan ripped her away from me. _

_ “Just fucking die already,” I growled as he tossed her now lifeless body away. The overgrown meadow and Ryan disappeared from in front us, dropping Beth and me into a dense forest in the pitch dark. _

_ “Dad, what the fuck? I thought you said he was dead,” Beth yelled, digging around for her phone for any source of light, dismayed by its absence.  _

_ “I-I thought he was!” I shouted back. _

_ “He just evaporated. We’re in a dream. Do I really have to spell this out for you?” _

_ “I told you I wasn’t sure this would work!” _

_ A loud scream rang from the distance to our right so we took off, hoping to find the source still breathing. As we came into a clearing, we found ourselves in an old campground. Cabins were scattered into the distance, small campfires long since put out formed in front of each one.  _

_ “Where are we? Camp fucking Crystal Lake?” Beth heaved, bending over to catch her breath. _

_ “I think you might be right on the money with that one, kiddo,” I assured her darkly. Sure enough, the source of the screaming tore out in front of us being pursued by a large man in a boiler suit and hockey mask. Watching her carefully as she fled into a cabin, I realized I didn’t recognize the would-be camp counselor. _

_ “Alright, well no more horror movies for Nova,” Beth said flatly, though her fear was inching its way into her voice.  _

_ “Jason fucking Voorhees? Let me guess, that’s Ryan. A veritably unkillable killing machine.” I rolled my eyes. _

_ “Where in the hell are we going to find her? This place is enormous,” Beth panicked, watching as Jason defenestrated his victim right in front of us. She fell at our feet and Beth moved over quickly to inspect the corpse. “It’s not her.” _

_ We left the girl behind, calling for Nova as we walked through the grisly campground. Bodies littered the grounds, some beheaded, some torn apart but none of them were Nova. We finally found the large mess hall, entering cautiously. I heard moaning from the kitchen and made a beeline for it. I told Beth to wait outside before I entered to find Nova in the throes of passion. _

_ But not with a dreamt-up version of me. _

_ What the fuck? _

_ “Nova!” I called out, storming over to discover that this wasn’t  _ my  _ Nova, this was her when she was about seventeen. _

_ “M-Mr. Sanchez, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean-” _

_ “Dad! He’s here, you have to do something!” Beth shouted, barrelling into the room and slamming the door behind her. Her jaw dropped at the sight of Nova and her fuck buddy. “Ben Tramer?”  _

_ “B-Ben Tramer? Who the fuck is that?” _

_ Realization dawned Beth’s face quickly as two and two slid into place and she looked over at me with a sigh. “I thought those bodies looked familiar. They were people we knew in high school. Ben Tramer was Nova’s boyfriend back then,” she explained exasperated, “Look, we don’t have time for this.” _

_ As if on cue, a loud thud was heard through the door as an ax blade cut through it. Nova and Ben screamed at the sound, scurrying to the closest window to climb out as the blade continued dismantling the door. I grabbed a large ax of my own, preparing for a fight as the door finally crumbled in front of him. He lunged for me, only giving me seconds to dodge away from his attack. I swung the ax at him, knocking his mask off to reveal a face I didn’t recognize. _

_ “She’s not even dreaming about a good Friday the 13th? This is some The New Beginning bullshit,” I shouted to Beth as she lunged for the large man sporting a long ice pick. As he turned to face her, Beth’s face contorted in fury as she drove the pick into his head with a disgusting squelch. He continued coming at her though, leaving me to deal the final killing blow with a large ax swipe, beheading him completely. His head rolled over to Beth, coming to a stop just before her feet. She stared at it, completely horrified by the visage. _

_ “That’s… That’s her dad,” she murmured. _

_ “Jesus fucking christ.” _

_ The world disappeared around us, my darkened bedroom filling in the space left behind. Fortunately finding Nova was simple, she was sprawled out on my bed looking far more comfortable than I’d ever managed to be on it. She twirled her hair around her fingers as she scrolled through her phone, looking perfectly content. She noticed us with a jump, straightening up at the sight of Beth as her cheeks went red. _

_ “R-Rick, B-Beth. What are you guys doing here?” she asked hesitantly. _

_ “We’re trying to stop whatever is causing these dreams for you,” I told her flicking my eyes over to Beth. _

_ “What happens here?” Beth whispers back, cringing in anticipation of whatever trauma she was going to have to witness here. _

_ “Rick went to get more snacks. We’re just hanging out for the day. I love spending time with him,” Nova gushed dreamily as she stared at the door longingly.  _

_ “And what happens after that?” I asked, shifting in place. _

_ “Oh, I don’t know. We’re probably just going to watch a movie or something. Who knows. I just love spending time with him.” _

_ “Yeah, you said that.” Beth’s irritation was mounting as she watched her friend squirm in anticipation. Dream Rick entered carrying a large bowl of popcorn and a couple of beers. _

_ “Hey baby girl, you ready to start the next episode?” he asked with a smile, not even noticing Beth and I as his eyes never left her face. _

_ “I can’t wait!” Nova squealed, moving over to allow him space on the bed. As he plopped down next to her, our presence finally registered. He shoved the bowl of popcorn at Nova, standing defensively in front of her. _

_ “What are you assholes doing here, this isn’t your dimension, get the hell out.” _

_ “Look, this is a dream, we’re trying to make it so Nova stops having night terrors,” I explained again, exasperated.  _

_ “I-I’m not going to let anything happen to her. I’m going to protect her,” he assured me. _

_ “Yeah, well forgive me for not believing you but everything I’ve seen so far tells me otherwise,” I shot back at him, “She keeps having dreams of Fuckwad hurting or killing her.” _

_ “We’re not even leaving the house tonight, nothing is going to happen to her, she’s fine. Now get the fuck out,” he demanded. I let out a sigh of irritation, pulling the door open to go back out into the hall. _

_ “Maybe this is just a good dream?” Beth suggested, looking around like Ryan was going to pop out at any moment. _

_ “It could be but I just have a bad feeling about this.” _

_ “Did you guys used to do that? Just hang out and watch TV?” Beth asked curiously, focusing on her nails. _

_ “I mean, sometimes? It wasn’t a regular occurrence,” I lied smoothly. When she first moved in that was my favorite thing to do, to just sit around and watch TV with her while I played with her hair. It was simply soothing to listen to her giggle, to just listen to her be at peace. Beth didn’t need to know all that. _

_ “Is that why she insisted on staying on the couch?” she pressed, seeing right through my lie. _

_ “Maybe a little,” I sighed, “Look, that’s not what’s important Beth. If this goes wrong, we need to be ready.” _

_ “Could this have something to do with her parents? Is Ryan just a face to the terror she dealt with when she lived with them?” _

_ “It’s a good theory, not that it really explains anything. I don’t know anything about her parents, she never talks about them.” _

_ “As far as I know, she hasn’t seen them since she left. I think she just lets herself live under the delusion that they’re just dead, it must be infinitely easier for her,” Beth explained, running her hands through her hair. _

_ “I was always under the impression that they just didn’t want her around.” _

_ “They didn’t.” Nova appeared in the doorway, looking troubled. _

_ “Nova, what are you doing, don’t you have a show or something to watch?” Beth asked, irritated. _

_ “I don't know, I just feel like I should be helping,” she offered, twisting her hands sheepishly. “Beth are you mad at me?” _

_ “N-No o-of course not,” I assured her while holding Beth’s gaze, “Have you ever had this dream before?” I asked as Beth opened her mouth to interrupt. Jesus fucking christ, what in the hell is her problem? _

_ “I-I think so. Usually, nothing bad happens though. Rick- Y-You and I usually just spend time together.” _

_ “Must be fucking nice,” Beth grumbled, stalking off down the hall.  _

_ I stared at the back of her head in disbelief, not sure how exactly to process my own daughter’s jealousy. I held a finger up to Nova, following after Beth. _

_ “The fuck is wrong with you?” I asked angrily, grabbing her arm to bring her to face me. _

_ “I’m glad you enjoy spending time with Nova so much, I guess it’s a good fucking thing you came back so you could just spend all your time reconnecting with her,” Beth spat back furiously. _

_ “Y-You’re jealous? Are you fucking kidding me?” _

_ “You’re always telling us how replaceable we are but Nova, oh Nova’s a completely different story. Why not let Ryan kill her? You could’ve just gone and gotten yourself another one like you insist you can with the rest of us.” _

_ “R-Ricks cling to their Novas. I’ve already had one try to kidnap this one. Th-They aren’t exactly easy to come by,” I explained harshly. _

_ “S-So she’s special but I’m not? And I’m just supposed to be okay with that? I’m your fucking flesh and blood,” Beth demanded, glaring up at me. _

_ “N-Now is not the time to have some “daddy issue” meltdown, sweetheart. You don’t get it, that’s fine. You don’t have to because I sure as hell don’t,” I told her coldly turning away from her sharply. “Novas make things seem less bleak for Ricks but my feelings for her are no reason for you to treat her like shit. F-For fucks sake, that’s your best friend.” _

_ Beth opened her mouth to retort but a sudden crash from my bedroom stopped her. Large green vines shot through the door and into the hallway, an impaled lifeless Rick carried on one of them. Jesus christ, how many times am I going to get to watch myself die today? Vines ran up her ankles, pulling her limbs taut as the ceiling grew an extra thirty feet to allow her to hang from them at a now potentially fatal height.  _

_ “Rick!” she cried out, struggling against the vines desperately. The source of the vines emerged from my bedroom, unsurprisingly proving to be Ryan yet again. Instead of feet, the vines holding Nova shot from his torso making him some kind of fucked-up half-vine, half-human hybrid. _

_ “You’re mine (Y/N), it doesn’t matter how many times this stupid fuck kills me, I will never let you go.” _

_ Letting out an angry cry, Beth grabbed a metal baseball bat that seemed to materialize out of nowhere. She lunged at Ryan, beating him down to the ground as I rushed under Nova to catch her as she fell from Ryan’s now distracted vines. A vine pulled Beth back, dragging her along on her stomach to stop her assault. I grabbed the abandoned baseball bat, swinging it with enough force to knock his entire head off. In its place, another one sprouted and sent Nova into a curling ball on the floor. The face was the same as the one under the Jason Voorhees mask. Her father. _

_ “N-Nova, are you afraid of your father? Are you afraid of him coming back for you?” I asked urgently as I started swinging violently at the replaced threat. _

_ “Now that Ryan’s gone, it’s only a matter of time,” she told me numbly, rocking back and forth. _

_ “You said your parents don’t care about you. Why would they even want to come looking for you now?” _

_ “They already have.” _

* * *

I sat straight up, looking around the room in confusion as my heart raced. Beth sat up from the floor, looking at me in bewilderment. Nova sat up quickly, looking at Beth and me with the most terrified look. She said nothing, pulling out her phone and navigating to her voicemails before handing it over to me.

“(Y/N)? Sweetie, we heard about Ryan. Are you okay?” a timid woman’s voice played, “If you need to, you can always bring Madison here. I can’t believe we didn’t know we had a granddaughter. I can’t believe you never told us. That was incredibly selfish of you.”

“(Y/N), you need to come the fuck home and bring that little brat with you so your mother will shut the fuck about meeting her,” another voicemail played, this time an angry man.

“They started calling the day after Ryan died,” she explained numbly, “I don’t want to see them, but I’m so terrified they’re going to find me again. I don’t even know how they got my phone number.”

“Alright, so it’s settled.” I stood up from the bed, starting up my tried and true pacing.

“Wh-What is?”

“You’re going to go see them and I’m going with you,” I told her flatly, my mind made up.

“Wh-What? Didn’t you hear what I literally just said? No. I’m not going back to that house. You don’t know what they’re like,” she pleaded desperately.

“Nova, Ryan isn’t the main source of these nightmares, it’s them. So, we go and confront the issue. And if they decide they want to die, then they die.”

“Dad!-”

“Rick!-”

Beth and Nova cried out in unison. I looked to Beth, nodding at the door to send her away as I sat down next to Nova again so I could talk to her in private. She huffed but ultimately conceded, slamming the door behind her. She was still pissed and I was not looking forward to having to deal with that in the slightest.

“Rick, I’m not going back there,” Nova repeated, standing up and fidgeting.

“Baby, you’re going to be terrified, no matter what you do. I-I’m not saying we’re taking Madi there for some kind of fucked-up family reunion but this is something that needs to be dealt with. Tell them to fuck off or whatever you need to do, I’ll be there for you. I won’t let them lay so much as a finger on you,” I assured her. “I’m not going to fuck this up again.” 

“Rick...”

“Baby, I promise you everything is going to be okay.” I caught her wrist and gently tugged her over to me. She sat down in my lap, bringing her legs up onto the bed and nuzzling into my neck as I rocked her gently back and forth. A comfortable silence fell around us as she fell into deep thought.

“I’ll go on one condition,” she announced finally, pulling away just enough to look up at me.

“Shoot.”

“You give me something to protect myself with, in case something happens.” I considered her request, mostly just trying to pick out what I would want to send her in there with.

“Alright, I can make that happen,” I agreed, trying to keep my hesitation out of my tone. She relaxed slightly, nuzzling back into my chest.

“So what did you think of what you saw in my head?” she asked nervously.

“You have this really strange fixation on the chance of my death,” I told her flatly.

“I just don’t want to lose you again,” she admitted sadly.

“There’s also the interest you showed in having a Ricksome, I didn’t take you for that kind of Nova,” I teased with a grin as she flushed.

“I-I w-wouldn’t. I mean- I-I only want my Rick-” she covered, completely flustered.

“I mean, I can’t blame you. Having two of the sexiest men on the planet completely ravage you? It’s what your dreams are made of, apparently.”

“You said you wouldn’t make fun of me!” she whined, groaning as she pulled herself out of my embrace. The loss of her warmth was glaring and I tried to pull her back onto the bed with me.

“I’m not making fun of you, Nova, I just wanted to let you know if that was something you would be into, I mean I don’t see why we couldn’t make that happen,” I assured her as a devilish grin spread across my face.

“Jesus, Rick, no!” she giggled sharply, pulling away as her cheeks burned red.

“Well, if you ever decide otherwise…”

“You’ll be waiting for a really long time.”

“I’m practically immortal at this point, I got time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. I guess we're going back to deal with Nova's childhood next chapter. That sounds fun, right? What's that? I'm just going to rip my own soul out? Yeah, you right.
> 
> Also, I based Beth's jealousy off of my own personal experience with parental jealousy. Not exactly because my dad went and fell in love with someone my age but just, in general, he found a better family and yeah so that's where that comes from sorry.


	2. Silhouettes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We confront Nova's parents, Nova gets drunk and then a certain group of guardians show up. Should be fun stuff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: There are some vaguely suicidal tones in this chapter.

* * *

+Nova+

* * *

“Fuck this Rick, I’m not going,” I declared for the third time that night. Rick sighed again, flopping down into his workshop chair as he rested his head in his hands.

“Fine, we won’t go,” he sighed, leaning back to look up me, his frustration apparent in every tired wrinkle.

“Seriously? This was your idea in the first place!” I fumed, pacing back and forth. It was supposed to be an easy plan. We meet up with them in a public place, I tell them politely but firmly that I wouldn’t be contacting them after tonight. If my father decided to act out, Rick would be there to drive the point home. It was supposed to be so easy and still, I was absolutely terrified to the core.

“Nova, my ability to care about any of this is about to run out.”

“You were the one that seemed so adamant about this being the way we deal with them!”

“Yeah, that was before five wardrobe changes and two emotional breakdowns,” he snarled. “I want you to get over it but at this point, seeing you like this isn’t fucking worth it.”

“This was your fucking idea!” I repeated, throwing my hands up in the air in frustration.

“I can change my goddamn mind, Nova. I thought it would work out fine to just confront them, but you are losing your goddamn mind. This isn’t worth it,” he told me firmly, standing up to grab my shoulders and stop me pacing. I froze in place, trembling under his touch as echoes of shattering glass and dull screaming played on repeat. He pulled away quickly, cursing under his breath and sinking back into his chair.

“I-I’m sorry, Rick. I’ll just go,” I murmured, furious with myself above all else. He didn’t respond as I willed my legs to take me anywhere else, anywhere but right here. 

I walked into the main house to sounds of mirth in the living room. Jerry had bought the kids some kind of cheap VR headset and from the sound of it, Madi, Summer and Morty were enjoying the misguided purchase. I stopped just short of the archway, unable to face Madi in such an unstable mindset so I headed for the front door instead, yanking it open and heading down the street.

It was weird to fight with Rick like that but arguments had become far more frequent ever since he delved into my dreams. He’d become cold and distant. It wasn’t unlike he was when he first came back, the difference being even back then he always looked happy to see me but now he just wore a constant look of regret at the sight of me. Beth explained everything they saw in my head but nothing stood out as something that could’ve upset him. It was like he just didn’t care anymore.

_ “My ability to care about any of this is about to run out.” _

I walked aimlessly, turning down random streets in an attempt to get good and truly lost for a little while. I turned a corner, finding myself on a dark street where my usual fear would kick in to send me in the other direction but instead I just I felt numb to it. I had gotten lost but it was in my own head. I couldn’t stop replaying every brief interaction I’d had with Rick trying to figure out what I could’ve done wrong. I was so lost in thought, in fact, that it wasn’t until it was too late when I started realizing everything looked all too familiar. Nauseating memories haunted me from every turn as I found myself on the street I grew up on. It looked eerily the same as the last time I’d seen it, the lawn decorations and landscaping were different, sure, and most of the cars were upgraded but there was no mistaking where I was. I was home.

“Goddammit Lainie!” an angry voice called from down the street, “Let’s just fucking go, alright? We’re going to be late.”

“I’m coming, I’m coming!” a mousy voice called after him, sounding about as horrified as I felt. As I neared my childhood home, I watched my mother shoot down the front steps toward my father’s truck. I couldn’t stop myself as I walked closer to them, coming into the light of a streetlight. My mom looked up at the movement, narrowing her eyes to try to discern the figure before her.

“(Y/N)?” she whispered, inching toward me. My father passed a glance over his shoulder as he started climbing into his truck, his nose turning up at the sight of me.

“H-Hi Mom,” I greeted her timidly, twisting my hands over and over as she rushed toward me.

“Oh, honey, I’m so glad you’re okay. What are you doing out here? I thought we were meeting you at Shoney’s?” she asked, wrapping her arms around me and looking relieved to see me.

“I-I was nervous,” I admitted, “I went for a walk and I- I just kinda ended up here.”

“Charlie, Charlie look. It’s our baby girl,” my mom cried out to my dad, tears streaming down her face. My father grunted in response, cautiously watching our reunion in his rear view mirror.

“H-How are you, Mom?” I asked nervously, unsure of what to expect from the weeping woman in front of me. Of all the ways this scenario played out in my head, it never resulted in either of them being exactly happy to see me. I was half right, Dad was going to be distant and cold no matter what, but my mother’s reaction floored me.

“Oh, I’m great, baby,” she wept, stepping back to take in my appearance entirely. “Sweetheart, have you been taking care of yourself? I know your husband just died and all, but you’ll need to find someone who can take care of you and your daughter.”

“M-Mom, I can take care of myself,” I told her nervously, stepping away and crossing my arms across my chest. There it was, the same obsession with appearances that I remembered from my youth on painful display.

“I know you can, sweetheart,” she chastised me, taking another step closer, “but you have another person to think about. Do you have a job? Are you financially stable? Did he have a life insurance policy on him?”

“Mom, I’m fine,” I assured her firmly, recoiling away from her. “My daughter will be well taken care of. I don’t need someone else to do it for me.”

“Where is she right now? Is someone keeping an eye on her?” Mom grilled me, peeking around me as though Madison would jump out at any second. When I didn’t answer, a smug smile curled over her features, “See, you have someone taking care of her right now, don’t you?”

“Sh-She’s home alone,” I lied, “She’s old enough that I can go for a goddamn walk without having to have her with me.”

“No need to be hostile, (Y/N),” she reprimanded me, wagging her finger in my face. “You may have run out on us, but we’re still your parents and you will respect us.”

“I didn’t mean to-”

“Where are you living? Obviously in walking distance,” she barreled over me, looking over my shoulder for a house that didn’t exist.

“Don’t worry about where I live. I came here to tell you-”

“We do have rights, you know. We deserve to see our granddaughter.”

“Mom! Stop!” I snapped, “I don’t want you to contact me anymore. I don’t know why you did in the first place but my life has been a lot easier without you and Dad in it and I prefer to keep it that way.”

“(Y/N), don’t you dare talk to your mother like that,” my father growled, finally climbing out of his truck and slamming the door. “If you try to stop her from seeing our grandchild, we will get lawyers involved.”

“Just leave me alone,” I snarled, backing away slowly from them. A firm figure behind me stopped me in my tracks as warm, calloused hands pushed me behind him. Rick towered ominously over my mother, glaring down as she stared up at him, unthreatened.

“Who in the hell are you?” she asked, squinting up at him before returning her gaze to me.

“I’m a friend of (Y/N)’s,” he growled at her, “and you’re going to leave her and her family the fuck alone if you know what’s good for you.”

“Look buddy,” my dad started, crossing the yard to come to my mother’s defense. “I don’t know who you think you are-”

“N-Not your buddy, guy,” Rick stopped him with a shrug. “(Y/N) wants you to leave her alone, I suggest you do that. Continuing to harass her doesn’t end well for you.”

“Listen here, you scrawny old fuck. I haven’t been in a fight in years but if you keep talking to my wife that way, I will take you to task.”

“D-Dad, don’t-”

“I’d listen to your daughter there, Charlie,” Rick sneered, flicking the nametag on my father’s chest.

“Look here you piece of shit-”

“I’d say, out of respect for (Y/N), you get one more of those,” Rick interrupted again, relishing in the fury he was inciting in my father. I could see the veins bulging in his face at Rick’s disrespect and it was all I could do to resist the urge to giggle nervously.

“C-Come on, let’s just go,” I murmured softly to Rick, grabbing his hand and interlocking our fingers. He met my gaze, a soft look flashing over his features before it distorted in anger as my father reared back, sucker punching Rick right in his gut.

“H-Hey, that’s the hardest working liver in the galaxy,” Rick swore, recovering far quicker than my father had expected.

“Charlie, stop!” my mom screamed, grabbing my dad’s arm in an attempt to pull him away only to earn a backhanded slap for her troubles. Rick sighed, lifting his arm up as his hand shifted into the large gun it held within. My father froze in his tracks, staring up at the large weapon pointed directly at his head.

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t do it,” Rick asked me, his boredom oozing into every syllable.

“R-Rick, I- Uh,” I stammered. I could think of all the moral reasons not to kill him but I knew telling Rick to spare him because it was ‘wrong’ to kill him would just earn me a hearty chuckle. I watched my father, cowering on the ground with his hands over his head as his only defense. Seeing him like this was invigorating in a way I never thought possible. His eyes broke from Rick’s feet and up to me, all consuming fear overwhelming him as a damp spot formed on his jeans.

“Please, (Y/N),” he pleaded, “I know I wasn’t the greatest father but-”

“Ah, ah. I asked Nova, not you,” Rick glared at him, swearing inwardly at the use of my nickname.

“N-Nova?” my mother whimpered, her eyes darting between the three of us. “I-Isn’t that what that Beth Sanchez girl called you?”

“Don’t bother with them, Rick,” I murmured, pulling him away from them. “They’re not worth it. You made your point. Let’s go home.”

“R-Rick? Rick Sanchez?” my mother spoke up again, this time with more determination in her voice. “You’re shacking up with your best friend’s father?”

“Nova, they're not going to stop, you know that right? Th-They contacted you in the first place because they think they can weasel back into your life now that you’re vulnerable,” Rick reasoned with me, facing them again. “Let me help you, Nova. Let me keep you safe.”

“You can’t, Rick,” I smiled sadly at him, “I just want to go.”

“I’m going to keep you safe, goddammit. I’ve gotta be able to do one fucking thing right. I wanted to kill Ryan from the get go, but you wouldn’t let me. Now you’re going to let them live because- What? They’re your family?”

“They’re not my family,” I hissed, glaring up at Rick stubbornly. 

“So let me do this, let me take care of you.”

My eyes flicked back to my parents one last time before turning to walk away. “Do whatever you have to do Rick, I don’t want to know anything about it,” I relented, walking away from the house for what I could only hope to be the last time. 

Rick didn’t answer but he also didn’t follow me. I was a couple blocks away when he finally caught up with me again, keeping his distance as he followed behind me silently. When we got home, I climbed into Rick’s ship wordlessly, desperate to avoid any human interaction that would require me to explain anything that just happened. Rick had probably killed them and I couldn’t quite reconcile just how okay I was with that possibility. He didn’t immediately follow me into the ship, disappearing into the house before returning with a large bottle of vodka. He climbed into the ship with me, starting it and flying out into the vacuum of space without a word.

He flew us to a large, mostly vacant planet, landing next to a large lake. He climbed out of the ship, grabbing the bottle of vodka before making his way down to the shore. I watched as he kicked off his shoes, tossing them to the side and pulling his pant legs up to allow the small waves to wash over his feet. He opened the bottle, pulling out two plastic cups from his lab coat and filling them both in a silent offering to join him. I considered a moment before wrenching the door open and stripping down to my underwear as I followed him down to the shore. 

I picked up the plastic cup and breezed past him, making my way out into the open water. I let the cool water swirl around me, taking a long drink from the cup as I waded out further into the open expanse. A small voice in my head was pleading with me to turn around, to consider the danger of going out into open water I knew nothing about but I couldn’t bring myself to care about the danger. What was the worst that was going to happen? I stop having to deal with all of these extremely traumatic issues? Oh boy, wouldn’t that suck.

“Nova, here-”

I finished the last of my cup off, hesitantly turning to face him only to find him extending the bottle out to me. I waded back over to him, allowing him to fill the cup up before heading back out into the open water. He watched me carefully but said nothing else as I ventured out further, going in so deep I had to hold the cup above my head as I submerged myself completely in the water. I held my breath, allowing the suffocating feeling to chip away at the pain I had buried down inside. Eventually I wasn’t able to hold it any longer, letting out a long breath that bubbled around me. I resurfaced only to finish off the remnants of the cup before tossing it aside and submerging myself again. I swam deeper under the water, ignoring the burning in my lungs. The pain soothed me in a demented way so I swam deeper and deeper to allow it to incapsulate me. My body wouldn’t allow it however and despite my desires to stay, my legs kicked me back to the surface.

“Nova, what in the fuck are you doing?” Rick called from the shore. To my surprise, he was much further away then when I went under. I started reluctantly swimming back but my head was spinning from the alcohol and my limbs were tired. I barely made it back to the shore line, coughing up water as I crawled up on the beach.

“I was fine,” I slurred at Rick coldly, grabbing the plastic cup he was holding out of his hand and refilling it.

“The fuck are you doing, Nova? Are you trying to drown yourself out there?” he demanded, glaring furiously at me. 

“No, Rick. I’m not a fucking idiot. I was just swimming,” I told him dismissively. What did he care anyway? He was doing everything he possibly could to distance himself from me anyway. I drank deeply from Rick’s cup, finishing it off before handing it back to him before heading back out into the water.

“Nova- Stop!” he bellowed, grabbing my arm. I glared at him as I pulled my arm away from him, heading back into the water despite his concerns.

“Leave me alone, Rick,” I murmured coldly, stumbling back out into the water.

“The fuck, Nova?” he demanded again, reaching for my arm again. I dodged clumsily, falling into the water as he sighed in exasperation. “Do you seriously want to die, Nova? Because it sure as fuck seems like it.”

“The fuck do you care?” I spat at him, my speech slurred.

“Wh-What the fuck are you talking about?” he asked, infuriated. “Everything we’ve been through- You think I don’t fucking care if you fucking die all of a sudden?”

“I-It’s not all of a sudden,” I mumbled stubbornly, “Y-You’re the one being fucking weird.”

“Oh, I’m the weird one,” he retorted with a roll of his eyes. “J-J-Just get out of the fucking water and tell me what the fuck’s going on with you.”

“You wanna know what’s going on with me?” I asked, unsuccessfully attempting to pull myself back to my feet only to fall back down with a splash. “My fucking husband is dead, my parents found me because of it and they’re probably dead too, not that I want you to confirm or deny that, mainly because I was too much of a bitch to just fucking tell you to do it.”

“A-A-Alright, why don’t you come back up here,” he sighed, wading out into the water to pull me over his shoulder and carry me back to the beach. His touch was surprisingly gentle and my chest ached when he rested me back down on the shore and moved away.

“Why don’t you want me anymore?” I asked, eyes brimming with tears. His eyes bulged at the question, looking at me incredulously.

“Okay, so you are clearly fucking trashed if that’s what you think,” he said flatly.

“You don’t want anything to do with me anymore,” I sobbed, unable to look at him. “ E-Ever since everything happened and my nightmares stopped you’ve been so distant. It’s like you’ve been avoiding me.” Rick opened his mouth to answer when a large spotlight opened over us. Rick and I covered our eyes against the harsh light as it grew closer, landing next to us. A hodgepodge group exited a flashy ship and Rick groaned as realization dawned over his face.

“Rick Sanchez?” a deep feminine voice called out. A female form made up of an actual galaxy hovered toward us, the disdain on her face at the sight of Rick mirrored on the faces of her companions.

“A-Are you fucking kidding me?” Rick growled as the woman came to a stop in front of him. “What in the hell do you assholes want? I’m a little fucking busy right now.”

“H-Hey buddy, who’s this?” a charming voice called from behind the galaxy woman, as a man watched me cautiously.

“R-Rick, who are they?” I asked nervously, my head spinning from the bright lights and alcohol. I clung to Rick’s arm desperately and he pulled me closer into him, gently massaging my arm in an attempt to soothe me.

“Th-They’re the Vindicators,” Rick explained, his irritation evident in every syllable. “They’re a team of ‘superheroes’ that Morty and I helped out a while back.”

“Hello,” the galaxy woman greeted me cordially, “What is your name?”

“I-I-I’m N-Nova,” I stammered, feeling miniscule under her piercing gaze. 

“Ah, that’s interesting,” she smirked, looking around at her companions. Rick groaned again, shaking his head in disgust as she continued, “My name is Supernova and as Rick said, we are a team of superheroes.”

“Wh-What?” I sputtered, looking to Rick again to make sure this wasn’t some elaborate joke. He met my gaze briefly, shrugging in response to my wordless confusion. “D-Did my nickname-”

“N-No, I didn’t even know her when you got that nickname,” Rick explained quickly, “It’s just a really annoying coincidence.”

“I’m Vance Maximus,” the charming man introduced himself with a suave grin, his wandering gaze making me all too aware of how exposed I was. Rick quickly took notice, offering me his lab coat to return some semblance of dignity to me while shooting daggers at Vance. 

“This is Million Ants, Alan Rails, and Crocubot,” Supernova continued, naming off the final three people surrounding her. I nodded in acknowledgement, recoiling into Rick as the large ghost man called Alan approached us.

“Look Rick, Worldender’s back. We need your help,” he explained reluctantly.

“Why the fuck do I care? You were the ones that didn’t like my methods,” Rick shot back, “Y-Y-You really upset my grandson you know, he really liked you guys.”

“Oh, I remember that kid,” Vance remarked looking around at the other Vindicators, “Wh-Why don’t you bring him then. I’m sure he’d like that.”

“I’m not helping you assholes,” Rick told them flatly, opening a portal into Morty’s bedroom and withdrawing the boy desperately trying to pull his pants up.

“H-Hey Rick, y-y-you can’t just do that, okay?” he chastised his grandfather through beet red cheeks. “I-I-I’m fourteen, y-y-ya know? I have things I have to take care of-”

“Morty, for the love of me, shut the fuck up,” Rick swore. Morty finally noticed the Vindicators standing behind Rick, his eyes going wide as all of the color drained from his face. 

“H-Hey kid,” Vance waved awkwardly, not meeting Morty’s gaze. “You, uh, you wanna go on an adventure with us to put an end to Worldender?”

“O-Oh shit, go on another adventure with the Vindicators? O-O-Of course, Vance,” Morty gushed, his hero worship washing away his embarrassment, much to Rick’s disgust.

“Go ahead and go with them Morty, get them off my back,” Rick scowled, turning to walk back to his ship.

“Rick, we need your help more than we need Morty,” Supernova pressed, hovering in front of Rick to stop him. “No offense kid.”

“Look, I’ve got way better things to do than to hang around you cliches. Sanchez, out.” Rick pushed past her pulling his ship door open with one last look over his shoulder at me.

“Rick, m-maybe we should help them?” I suggested hesitantly, earning a growl. “We haven’t done any adventuring for a long time.” 

“L-Look, Nova, you wanna go with them, fine, but I’m not putting up their paper thin personalities and one dimensional ‘problems.’ I’d tell you to have fun but you won’t. Oh, and watch out for Vance.” He slammed his door, turning over his engine and shooting off into space, leaving Morty and I to watch until he disappeared in the horizon.

“H-H-He just left us?” I murmured, wrapping his coat around me tightly. He had to be coming back, right?

“He does that Aunt Nova, you’ll get used to it,” Morty grumbled, turning back to the Vindicators.

“H-He just left me here?” I whimpered again, tears filling my eyes as I stared up into the dark sky in disbelief, expecting him to reappear any second.

“Come on, Aunt Nova. Let’s just get out of here.”

They led us onto their ship, taking us back to an admittedly luxurious commandship. We were offered seperate rooms and allowed to get acclimated. I took the opportunity to change into new clothes, a clean white tee shirt and loose shorts before we were led to their conference room to be briefed on the mission at hand. I kept Rick’s lab coat on, clinging to it desperately as though it would miraculously make Rick appear the tighter I tucked it around my body.

A new hero, introduced to us as Noob Noob, gushed about finally being invited on an adventure and was surprisingly eager to learn about Morty and I. They offered us a wide spread of food, though only Morty and Vance dug in. The rest of the Vindicators weren’t much for human food, with Million Ants being a colony of ants and Crocobot being, well, a robot crocodile. My head was still reeling from the alcohol sloshing around in my stomach and just the smell of the food sent me running for the toilet.

“Aunt Nova?” Morty called from behind me hesitantly as I wiped the leftover vodka away and pushed myself away from the no longer pristine toilet bowl. I turned to face him weakly, flushing away the contents of my stomach as I pulled myself off the floor and stumbled over the sink to clean myself up.

“What’s up, Morty?”

“Aww, jeez, are you okay? You don’t look so good,” he asked, inching further into the bathroom to get a better look at me. “Look, Rick probably won’t come back for us until later. He really hates the Vindicators, especially Vance.”

“I’m not worried about Rick, Morty. I could give a shit less what he does,” I lied, staring into the mirror trying to convince myself it was the truth. 

“Good, Rick’s not worth it. After everything that you’ve been through, you don’t need more piled on from him,” Morty fumed, “Rick doesn’t care about anyone. I hate to say it, but it was only a matter of time until you stopped being new and shiny to him.” I turned to face him, tears burning in my eyes at his words.

“I know you and your grandpa have a tough history but you don’t know shit about our relationship,” I shot back at him. “He’s done a lot for you and me, whether you realize it or not.”

“He left you and my mom before and he’s doing it again right now. Rick doesn’t care about anyone but himself,” he repeated, driving his point home. I stared at him blankly, my mouth agape as I tried to formulate some kind of retort but nothing came out. “I-I’m sorry, Aunt Nova, but you needed to know. I don’t want you to get hurt any more than you already have.”

“You have no idea what you’re talking about Morty,” I glared at him. “I’m going to go sleep this shit off, I’ll see you in the morning.” I pushed past him, ignoring his continued arguments as I stumbled into my room, slamming the door in his face. 

I collapsed onto the bed, covering myself Rick’s lab coat in a sad attempt at comforting myself. His scent encapsulated me, making it almost impossible to ignore the constant replays of my argument with Rick that my brain was insistent on focusing on. Rick wasn’t good with his feelings but how hard was it to offer any kind of reassurance? And for him to try to say I was the one being weird, only to disappear on me yet again was just the worst kind of joke imaginable. Maybe it was only fun for him while he had an enemy to fight against in the form of Ryan and now that there was no immediate danger his interest was waning. Tears sprung out in earnest at the thought and I threw the coat away from me in disgust, turning away from it only to end up crying myself to sleep for what felt like the hundreth night in a row. 

* * *

“Rick! What are you doing here?!” Morty shrill voice woke me up. I shot up in my bed, my entire body aching from the little bit of sleep I had managed. “Y-Y-You need to go, you really upset Aunt Nova, you know.”

“Why in the hell do you think I came back,” the gruff voice I was so desperate to hear growled. “Which room is she in?” His voice grew louder as he got closer to my room, much to Morty’s ire.

“Just go home, Rick,” Morty scolded his grandfather from outside of my door.

“I’m going to apologize to her, then I’m going to solve this Worldender shit and then I’m going home. I wasn’t going to just leave her here with these assholes, y-y-you idiot.”

“Leave Aunt Nova alone. She doesn’t need any more of your shit. She spent the entire night crying, y-y-you know? Why can’t you just go ahead and leave her for good so she can move on with her life.” It was now or never, Morty was close to hitting a nerve in Rick. I stood up quickly, heading straight for the door to break up the fight. My hand hovered over the button to open it when Rick spoke again.

“Look, Morty, you don’t know shit about what Nova needs,” Rick sneered, “You’re out here doing all this talking for her, why don’t we just ask her what she wants.” 

I pressed the button, finding Morty wearing a vest with the Vindicator’s logo and Rick looking like his head was going to explode from all of his contained rage. Morty looked up at me, his anger painted over his features as I gestured for Rick to come in. Rick grinned smugly at the boy, pushing past him and pulling me into the room with him. He closed the door in Morty’s face, his facade dropping as he pulled me into his arms, hugging me tightly.

“R-Rick, I can’t- I can’t breathe,” I sputtered, trying to gently free myself from his grasp.

“Nova, are you okay? I shouldn’t have left, I just-”

“Your lab coat is over there, you can take it and go,” I interrupted, not interested in whatever excuse he had lined up. He stiffened, not meeting my gaze as he grabbed it, sliding it on before sitting down on the bed. 

“Y-You know, I couldn’t just leave you here with these assholes. I was really upset but if you need me to be there for you then, well, here I am.”

“That’s nice and all Rick, but don’t do me any favors,” I rolled my eyes, heading into my bathroom to get ready to face the rest of the ship’s inhabitants. Everyone had heard me crying, but I didn’t need to go out there and make it so blatantly obvious.

“I-It’s not a favor. I fucked up but I’m here now,” he insisted, standing up and moving closer to me. I rebuffed, moving out of his reach for a towel as his hand grazed my elbow. As desperately as I wanted to see him, having him here in front of me right now trying to apologize was just infuriating.

“I see that,” I murmured coldly, pushing past him and out of the room entirely. I wanted to forgive him, I knew he hadn’t meant it as a slight against me personally but every ache in my body reminded me that I just spent the entire night sobbing my eyes out over him. I pushed past him, making my way out into the conference room to find Morty talking to Vance as the rest of the Vindicators poured over a map.

“A-Aunt Nova,” Morty blurted as I walked into the room, “A-Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Morty, just hungry. Is there anything to eat?” I mumbled groggily, looking around the room blankly.

“I think I can help you out there little missy,” Vance interjected, extending a hand to lead me into the dining hall. “We’ve already eaten but there should be some pancakes left.”

“I don’t care what I eat, I’m just starving,” I assured him, following him into the kitchen.

“You know, if you ever need anyone to talk to who isn’t a psychotic scientist, you can always call me up,” he told me with a smile as he pulled out the leftovers from breakfast.

“I’m good, thanks,” I assured him flatly. He gave me a ‘you don’t know what you’re missing’ smile as he microwaved some sausages and pulled out a pan to start a fresh plate of pancakes.

“I’m just saying, you’re a pretty girl. You don’t need to put up with that crazy old coot if you want someone to make you feel good,” he continued, raising an eyebrow at me lecherously. I stared at him for a moment, wondering what kind of death wish he had before turning on my heel to search for the gallon of coffee it would take for me to know how to process this conversation.

“Vance, you’re needed out here.” Alan Rails appeared in the doorway, waving to Vance as he plated my pancakes and slid them over to me on the counter.

“Think about it,” he winked before following Alan back out into the meeting room. Under the plate, I found a holographic card with his contact information. I groaned at it, tossing it in the trash before plating the rest of my breakfast and grabbing my coffee. I opted to just eat in the kitchen, not wanting to subject myself to more of Vance’s misguided flirting. Shouting erupted from the adjacent room, Rick storming into the kitchen to find me looking less than amused as he fumed.

“These fucking assholes, and Morty- Can you believe he buys into their crap?” he ranted, glaring at the door behind him. “H-H-He used to think the shit I did was incredible. These paper mache personalities show up and suddenly I’m chopped fucking liver. Ungrateful little shit.”

“Maybe if you weren’t constantly yelling at him and telling him you thought he was worthless, maybe he would be more akin to you,” I mused flatly, taking a pointed bite out of my sausage.

“Oh, not you too,” he groaned. “You like these assholes? You think they’re super fucking fascinating or something too? They share the same five fucking personality traits in different shiny exteriors. They’re about as deep as a shower.”

“I don’t care about them either way,” I said with a roll of my eyes. “You seem to get really worked up about them though, you ever thought of working through that or something?”

“Oh, like you’re one to talk about working through anything,” Rick shot back clumsily. I stared at him for a moment, allowing him to find the flaw in his own logic. “Whatever Nova, these guys aren’t shit. Six of them and they can’t even kill a garbage villain like Worldender by themselves.”

“I don’t see you taking care of him either, Rick.”

“You’re just full of wise hangover wisdom today, aren’t you?” Rick fumed, storming out of the kitchen to leave me in peace to finish my breakfast. It was easier just to antagonize him while he was angry, a trick I’d learned watching him work on his gadgets. If he got mad enough, his stubborn determination would overcome his self doubt and he would end up victorious over whatever insignificant detail holding him back. 

“Nova, will you be joining us tomorrow?” Supernova asked, hovering through the door. 

Would I get no peace this morning?

“Y-Y-Yea, I don’t see what not,” I sputtered, finding myself enamoured by all of the beautiful colors she was made up of.

“Is that because you are able to help us, or because you are going with Rick?” she asked coolly, watching my face carefully.

“Why is everyone so interested in my relationship with Rick?” I snapped, “I was here before Rick decided to show up, if I’m going with anyone, I’m going with Morty.” Supernova nodded, ignoring my outburst as she considered a moment.

“I was just concerned, as you do not show any outward abilities that would come to our aide.”

“Neither does Morty.”

“This is not a babysitting mission,” she asserted, “We cannot guarantee your safety.”

“I don’t need your guarantees,” I shrugged. “Rick will be there, he’s got a knack for keeping me safe.”

“Alright, if you are aware of the dangers,” Supernova conceded, turning to leave.

“Thanks for the concern,” I grumbled, returning to my coffee. The door swung rhythmically as she exited and I knew if I wanted any peace and quiet I was going to have to hide. I slunk down against the metal cabinets, sipping my coffee slowly as my head throbbed. The silence lulled me into a stupor, and combined with my now full stomach, my eyes drifted shut for a moment until I had completely drifted off.

* * *

“H-Hey, time to wake up,” Noob Noob said, shaking me awake. At some point I had allowed myself to splay out on the floor, spreading out in the most comfortable possible position. I straightened up quickly, my eyes bleary as they tried to focus in on Noob Noob. “We’ve been looking all over for you. You know that floor is filthy, right?”

“I was just really tired,” I told him sleepily, “I didn’t sleep well last night.”

“We heard,” he assured me bluntly, my cheeks flushing. “Do you need a change of clothes? Or a shower? I can accommodate with whatever you need.”

“I think I’ll just head back to my room,” I assured him, shaking my head. “Do you know where Rick is? Or more importantly, can you help me get back to my room without him following me?”

“Rick? Oh, he’s been drinking all morning. I think he’s passed out in the conference room.” Noob Noob grabbed my hand, pulling me up off the floor and leading me out into the kitchen. “Follow me, I’ll get you back.”

Noob Noob led me through the dining area, motioning for me to stop as we came up to the conference room. He peered in, looking around before grabbing my hand again and pulling me through the room swiftly. I spotted Rick drunkenly rambling at the TV in front of him, fortunately not noticing when we passed. Noob Noob stopped at my door, smiling as I thanked him for his assistance. I was grateful when he departed quickly, disappearing down the hall as I closed the door. I could feel the filth he’d mentioned, climbing into the shower to rinse it off along with the lake water that had saturated my hair last night.

The shower helped me feel a little better, revitalizing me as I climbed out only to find my clothes missing. They had been replaced with a Vindicators uniform and a small note from Noob Noob explaining that he had taken them to be washed. I pulled on the spandex uniform, surprised at how comfortable it was, even if it did put every single one of my curves on full display. I climbed back into bed, closing my eyes as I forced myself to just go to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took so long! I kinda wrote myself into a corner and it took me three completely different versions of this chapter to find something I was actually happy with. Next chapter will absolutely feature Drunk!Rick (because I mean, obviously. I'm using the Vindicators) and I'm absolutely going to write Drunk!Rick as the sappiest fucking asshole in the world.


	3. Scene Of The Crime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vindicators 3: The Return of World Ender? Never heard of him either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, so. I switched to doing this as a series so hopefully people get the sco-diddly-oop and find their way over here. Thank you for reading this far and thank you so much for your continued support. ♥

Surprisingly, it was a horrid stench that woke me up, along with Morty gently nudging me into consciousness. I groaned, rolling over and bringing the blanket up to cover my nose and save me from the horrendous smell that had permeated the room.

“C-Come on Aunt Nova, we gotta go,” Morty murmured, shaking me again before standing up and moving away from the bed. “Rick, uh- He had one hell of a night last night.”

Whatever I had been imagining didn’t match what I found in the conference room. Rick was splayed out, completely coated with shit and sleeping peacefully despite it. I clasped my hand to my face trying desperately to purge the image from my brain before it made itself at home. I turned to focus on Supernova and Morty, turning my back on Rick completely.

“Good morning. Looks like your boyfriend had a long night,” she remarked. My cheeks burned as I peeked around her despite myself, seeing the full extent Rick’s mess went to. “Crocubot, why don't you escort Mr. Sanchez to a more comfortable spot so that someone can… clean up his diarrhea.”

“Whoa, I'm nervous about my first mission,” Noob Noob declared proudly, entering the conference room toting multiple weapons.

“Actually Noob Noob, you have a new mission,” Supernova told him coldly, flicking her wrist to replace the weapons with a mop.

“Got damn,” he said sadly, resigning himself to his new “mission”.

“Vindicators, prepare for arrival. Worldender dies today, with or without Rick’s help.” She ordered, leading us to the ship we would be descending to Worldender’s hideout planet in. 

My head was still reeling as the ship took off from the main ship and soared down to Worldender’s planet. Morty kept me calm, explaining the different Vindicators to me before we were forced to drop down onto the planet from midair. Vance grabbed my waist with a sly grin, pulling me uncomfortably close to him before jumping out of the back and landing safely on the ground below. I pulled away from him quickly, only to be confronted with the pungent smell of burning flesh and rotting corpses as I surveyed my surroundings. Most of the planet seemed to be composed of corpses and bones and it just reinforced my assumption that the vast majority of space was just disgusting. Vance offered me a handkerchief to cover my nose with but I politely declined, not wanting to offer him any more of an ‘in’ than he already thought he had. I used the sleeve of my shirt instead, pressing it against my face hard enough that the skin ached around my nostrils from the pressure.

“A-Aunt Nova, are you okay?” Morty asked, looking up at me with concern plastered all over his face but noticeably unbothered by the smell.

“Y-Yeah,” I coughed, unsurprised the air tasted as bad as it smelled, “how are you so relaxed right now? This place fucking reeks.”

“Oh, Rick implanted me with a scent filter for my nose. There was a planet that smelled like burnt tires and rotten eggs and he got tired of hearing me complain about it,” Morty explained, “Sure, it’s based off Rick’s preferences so I haven’t smelled lavender and sweet pea in over a month but whatever you’re going through looks like it sucks.”

“So you can’t smell anything right now?” I asked, astonished.

“Nope,” he shrugged, “right now all I can smell is your shampoo and Vance’s cologne.”

“Must be fuckin’ nice,” I grumbled, staring at the ground ahead of me as we followed behind Supernova. 

Drones approached us at an alarming pace but Supernova made quick work of them using the powers of whatever the “Star Mother” was. We advanced, only to come to a total dead end. This time it was Alan Rails’ turn, somehow creating a train to blast through the wall so we could advance further.

“Is it just me, or are their powers a little… stupid?” I whispered under my breath to Morty, only to earn an annoyed sigh.

“You sound just like Rick. These are actual superheroes, Aunt Nova. Most people just get movies but you’re actually in the presence of people that do everything they can for the better good,” Morty chastised.

“Like, I get that but even you have to admit they’re pretty lame. I mean, sure Supernova uses powers from some ‘Star Mother’ but like, the one guy is literally just an amalgamation of ants? And Alan can just call on the power of trains? Ghost trains? In what way could that possibly be helpful other than complete and utter destruction?”

“You don’t get it-”

“Aah! Gun Turret,” Million Ants interrupted us.

“Are you alright?” Supernova asked, concern flooding her voice.

“Yes. I only lost 400 ants. My queen is laying more,” he assured her as the holes in his chest mended in front of us, “I am back to one million ants,” he announced proudly as a look of relief flashed over Supernova’s features.

“Someone wake up Sanchez,” she demanded, glaring as she watched Crocubot toss Rick gracelessly onto the ground as Vance bent over him.

“H-Hey, wait- What are you doing?” I started nervously, as Vance pointed a finger at his face. Supernova shook her head briskly at me, holding up a hand as the tip of Vance’s finger opened and a blue gas emerged from it.

“Ugh,” Rick groaned, his bloodshot eyes taking in his surroundings as he familiarized himself with his location. “Oh, christ.”

“Oh, good. You’re up,” Supernova remarked sarcastically.

“Barely,” Rick growled, pulling himself to his feet.

“Rick, we're taking fire from an automated turret. Can you bring it offline?”

Rick grunted in response, pulling out a thermos as we watched him mix chemicals to produce a small creature. He held the plump creature over his eyes, squeezing it and relishing in the relief the liquid it produced offered.

“Ahh, that’s better,” he sighed, blinking away the bloodshot in his eye and looking around the room. His eyes fell on me and for a moment, a look of fear passed through them. “You’re not supposed to be here.”

“Rick!” Supernova shouted, irritated by the delay.

“I can’t help if I can’t see,” Rick shot back, shaking away his concerns for a moment and pulling out a small roving device that scurried over the floor into the line of fire. The top opened to allow a transparent disc to absorb the bullets before it spit out three compact discs that morphed into small robots. They climbed on top of each other, propelling themselves up onto the turret and fixating themselves over the barrel. Rick winked at me before jumping in front of the turrets in a ‘ta-da’ pose and I felt my heart drop as the turrets began shooting. I’ve moved to go after him, to pull him out of what I assumed to be certain doom but he turned to face me, grinning like a madman as the turrets fired until they exploded.

“And that’s how you do it, baby.”

“I could've just used a ghost train,” Alan grumbled, shoving past Rick and continuing through the door.

“Really? You don't say. You would have used a ghost train?” Rick gloated, rolling his eyes as he looked around the room. “H-Hey, everybody, the ghost train guy would have used a ghost train!” The rest of the Vindicator and Morty pushed passed him, mumbling under their breath and shooting looks of disgust and irritation at Rick as they passed.

“Is there coffee?” Rick asked, stopping Morty as he pressed on past his grandfather, the disgust and irritation even more prevalent on his face than the rest of them, “H-Hey, Morty, can you be a pal? Grandpa left his coffee maker on the ship. Y-You know, the French press thing?”

“Get it yourself,” Morty shot back, going around his grandfather to follow the rest of the team. As I passed him, that same look of fear covered his face as he looked me over, making sure I was okay. Once he seemed satisfied, he turned away to follow the group silently. We navigated the halls to Worldender’s lair in silence, Rick focusing in on Morty to avoid having to face me.

“You’re sni-uuuuurp-ppy this morning,” Rick remarked, following closely behind Morty while also keeping a watchful eye on my progress behind him.

“Just focus on the mission, alright,” Morty snapped, not interested in anything his grandfather had to say at this point.

“Oh, oh, oh, I'm sorry. Oh, you're right. Ooh, real serious. Gotta take it real serious, huh?” Rick said mockingly, glaring at the back of the Vindicator’s heads.

“Rick…” I called out gently, trying to relieve Morty of the punishment of dealing with his hungover grandfather. Rick turned to face me finally, a bit too eagerly for his liking it seemed as he groaned and stopped in his tracks to wait for me to catch up.

“H-Hey, Nova,” he grumbled as I caught up, “You shouldn’t have come.”

“And what, miss out on all the fun?” I chuckled. “Seems like you’ve had one hell of a night.” I watched him carefully, trying to ignore the part of me that was simply relieved that he was awake.

“Yeah, I got, uh, upset,” he shrugged, sidestepping a corpse as we entered a large room.

“I didn’t mean-”

“It’s fine,” he said, cutting me off. “What are you even doing here? You know this is supposed to be incredibly dangerous right?”

“I figured you’d be here,” I shrugged, holding my arm against me and rubbing it.

“Jesus,” Rick muttered, shaking his head. 

“Son of a steam engine! They're all dead!” Alan interrupted before Rick could say anything else. I took the room in only to find it littered with corpses, posed in various sex positions.

“Why would Worldender do this to his own men... and several women?” Crocubot asked, confusion leaking into his robotic tone.

“Well, he is the Worldender. The guy ends worlds. Kind of his thing,” Vance said, rolling his eyes. Rick kept moving forward, not interested in the massacre only to step on a hidden panel on the floor. A large hook bearing a corpse swung down from the ceiling in front of us, leaving Vance to cry out in horror, “What the fuck?!”

“It’s Worldender!” Supernova exclaimed, “What happened to him?” Worldender let out a weak moan, alerting us that he was still alive. I stared in horror as the monster on the hook gurgled in agony at us, unable to form any true speech.

“I sense his life force is fading,” Million Ants remarked, moving closer to take a better look.

“Million Ants, ladies and gentlemen! The ant colony with the power of two human eyes!” Rick snarled, unable to help himself. Worldender sputtered some more before an organ flew out of his mouth. “All right. Short mission, good mission. Remember when Alan wanted to use a ghost train? See you guys in Vindicators 4. Morty, Nova?”

“Rick, whoever did this is an even bigger threat than Worldender! We can't leave now!” Morty exclaimed nervously, looking to me for assistance.

“He's right. This is far from over,” Supernova insisted, hovering over to Rick.

“Well, have fun with that. But we have a comet girl, a monorail man, two assholes, and a full alligator to meet in, like, an hour,” Rick dismissed her, ready to head back through the door to the lair. As he turned to leave, however, a large shutter descended in front of him. It missed him by a hair as all of the exits sealed up immediately and left only one remaining door. The Vindicators and Morty prepared themselves for a fight but Rick grabbed my arm and dug into his lab coat for his portal gun, only to come up empty.

“Shit,” I murmured, the real terror of the situation descending on me quickly, realizing whatever had locked us in here truly had us stuck and Rick didn’t have a way out.

“I sense the presence of a greater evil,” Million Ants remarked looking around the room as if whatever it was would pop out at us immediately at his revelations. A large monitor descended from the ceiling, much to my surprise and it immediately cut to a video of a very drunk Rick.

“Check, check, One, two. Okay, is it recording? Good. Hello, Vindicators. Welcome to your reckoning, babyyyyy,” Drunk Rick held the last word out as we all turned to look at him.

“Well, it's official. I had too much to drink last night,” Rick remarked sheepishly, not quite meeting my eye.

“Rick, what did you do?” I asked nervously, my eyes darting around every corner.

“To be honest with you, I don’t really remember,” Rick admitted quietly, his eyes still trained on the monitor.

“ If you guys are watching this, you're, you know, the Vindicators,” Drunk Rick slurred, adjusting the camera to assure he was in the frame.

“R-Rick… buddy…” Vance started, training one of his wrist-mounted pistols on Rick as he looked him up and down cautiously, “What’s, uh, what’s going on?”

“Obviously, I came here last night during a blackout,” Rick told him flatly, gesturing up at the screen.

“Obviously?” Supernova demanded, exasperated, “You came here and defeated our arch-nemesis while so drunk, you don't remember doing it? That's something ‘obvious’ to you?”

“Look, I'm a lit-little more complex than you guys and, no offense, but I've always suspected that a lot of what you do in a year could be knocked out in a couple of hours,” Rick replied nonchalantly. Supernova opened her mouth to speak again but instead trained her attention on the screen.

“...So I thought, why not just do your job for you so we can have a little fun game,” Drunk Rick mumbled, pointing to the left where a spotlight flashed on and illuminated a large board with each of the Vindicators on it along with a defining trait for each of them.

“Rick, what did you do?” I demanded again, eyeing him nervously myself now.

“Is this a ‘Saw’ thing?” Morty asked angrily, moving closer to the board to investigate closer, “Are you ‘Saw’-ing the Vindicators?”

“I’m a drunk Morty, not a hack,” Rick snapped, looking around the room nervously.

“I certainly hope you idiots didn’t bring Nova with you because if you break the rules, lose the game or try to leave, you will die. Like in *uuuuurp* ‘Saw’,” Drunk Rick finished clumsily. Rick’s eyes met mine nervously and my mouth went dry.

“Well, I-I-I think we've seen enough. I'll just figure out how to unplug this,” Rick hurried off quickly looking for a plug while the rest of us stared up at the screen as Drunk Rick continued his tirade.

“Okay, here we go, room number one. The Vindicators are known throughout the galaxy, but do they know yourselves? Do you know yourselves? Match your... your shit, your... your gimmicks with your faces and y-you get it, it's a matching thing. And do it in three minutes, or you'll *uuurp* all die.”

“Screw this, I’m not playing his game,” Vance declared. “I'm gonna find us a way out of here.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on, Vance. He said we'd die if you tried to leave,” Rick reasoned, stepping in front of Vance, “I really don’t give a fuck about you but I can’t let Nova die, why in the hell did you assholes let her come again?”

“I informed her of the risks yesterday, she seemed assured that you would keep her safe,” Supernova told him coolly, much to his irritation.

“Th-this guy probably knew she’d be too stubborn to listen to any of you assholes so here’s hoping he didn’t go too crazy with the booby traps.” Rick was trying to convince himself as well as the rest of us as paced back and forth.

“Why are you acting like that's not you?!” Vance demanded hysterically.

“What part of ‘blackout’ don't you understand? I thought you drank?” Rick snarled, looking up from the floor.

“Like cool drinking! Like sexy drinking, not this psycho trailer-park shit!” he bellowed, looking around the room for some kind of reassurance that he was in fact not the crazy one.

“Vance, stay calm…” Morty said cautiously, bringing Vance’s wrath down on him instead.

“Oh, so you're the leader now because we gave you a jacket?! You're the learning-disabled kid we do photo-ops with!” Vance reamed Morty, his breathing quickening with every syllable. I moved to step in, to defend my godson against the sudden onslaught from his heroes when he shook his head at me quickly and swallowed his hurt.

“Okay, ouch, but-”

Vance began hyperventilating fully again, fanning his face against the red that was inching its way up from his collar. “Okay, this... this is triggering me. I need space. I-I need SPACE! FROM THIS!”

Before anyone could stop him, Vance engaged his rocket propellers after eyeing a conveniently placed vent in the ceiling. He shot his way up to it, ripping away the grate and flying into it. Sounds of saws and gunshots echoed as we could do nothing but watch as Vance’s legs contorted in agony before plummeting back down and landing in front of us. We stared in abject horror as one of the rocket boots kicked back to life and started flying around the room leaving a trail of blood in its wake.

“I really wish I could say I was sorry about that one,” I murmured numbly, staring at the rocketing foot until Crobubot finally took aim and shot it out of the air. “What the fuck is going on right now?”

“H-Hey, Nova,” Rick started, moving closer in an attempt to comfort me but I winced away from his touch, “it’s gonna be okay, I’m not going to let-”

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn't crush your windpipe!” Alan interrupted, grabbing Rick by the throat and holding him against the wall.

“Wait, no!” I grabbed Alan’s arm, trying my hardest to pull him away from Rick. I may not be able to reconcile all of this away right now, but I still couldn’t bear to watch him hurt. Alan looked over his shoulder for a moment, pushing me down to the ground with a malicious glint in his eye that was all too familiar before returning his attention to Rick.

“Because my epidermis is laced with a nanofiber defense mesh,” Rick answered coldly, strange electricity covering his body before Alan was launched back away from him. “And because, like I said, I don't remember last night.”

“I told you not to invite this mummified motherfucker back!” Alan bellowed from the ground, shooting a dirty look over his shoulder at Supernova.

“Alan, I'm not proud of what's happening here, but if you keep coming at me or if you touch another hair on Nova’s head, there's gonna be another passenger on that ghost train,” Rick snarled, taking a step toward him and leaning down to really drive his point home.

“Guys!” Morty called over to us, “I figured it out.” While Rick and Alan had been fighting, Morty had taken to solve the puzzle Rick had set up for the Vindicators. “I figured I didn’t want to die so I better actually figure this shit out before this asshole gets us killed.”

“Congrats! You did i-uuuurp-it!” Drunk Rick slurred proudly when the monitor flashed back on. The door opened, revealing our path forward.

“It was a bit. All of the descriptors apply to all of you,” I murmured, reading the descriptors and matching them up to what little Morty had told me about the Vindicators, “Drunk Rick's point is that none of you are very special or different.”

“That's always his point,” Morty affirmed, despondent.

“Let's just get through this as quickly as possible. Then, we'll deal with the three of you,” Supernova said contemptuously, hovering past Rick and me.

“Th-Three of us?” Morty exclaimed, looking heartbroken before he turned his ire to Rick, “I hope you're proud of yourself!”

“Uh, I kind of am. I saved the goddamn universe.”

“That's not the issue, Rick!”

“Ahh, it would've been if I hadn't.”

* * *

We made our way through the next room, losing Crobubot in the process. Drunk Rick appeared on another monitor again, this time sporting a deerstalker cap and presenting a large map for the puzzle of the room. Crobubot’s confidence had chosen to reveal even more questionable backstory about the Vindicators from when Rick hadn’t been with them. This time it was concerning an entire planet they had to destroy because they couldn’t locate their target at the time, something called Doomnomitron. I was stuck watching in real-time as glimmers of hope and respect Morty held for the team started to rapidly deteriorate. Rick pointed out that he could’ve just created a device to seek out Doomnomitron but apparently it had been Alan’s call not to call Rick back.

Morty solved the puzzle yet again and the in-fighting only worsened as we made our way into the next room. This time Drunk Rick was wearing one of my old Hawaiian t-shirts, holding up a coconut filled with more booze.

“Aloha... means hello and goodbye in Hawaii. But, uh, aloha means... has nothing to do with this room,” Drunk Rick sputtered as his head rolled around loosely on his shoulders. “I'm so fucking drunk. Nova’s going to be so mad at me in the morning. Jesus Christ, she better not be in here with you.” Rick’s eyes met mine, unspoken apologies and frustration boiling over. “Ugh, okay, here's the deal. I-I want to rest my eyes for a little bit. I'm--I'm not going to sleep. I just... just need to rest my eyes, so let's make this one simple. Just try to hit some three-pointers.” Lights came on to light up a basketball hoop and a small bomb rigged to blow. “Let's say... you have to hit... five three-pointers in... five minutes or, I don't know, the whole place--the whole planet will get blown up with a n-neutrino bomb. And try to make it a-a lesson about yourselves like, like how... selfish you a-are, or something. Also, Hawaii,” he rambled, his head resting on the desk for a moment. This time, however, the video didn’t cut out and just continued playing as Drunk Rick struggled to keep the contents of his stomach within.

“Jesus Christ,” Rick murmured, staring at himself on the screen before Morty grabbed his arm and dragged him over the neutrino bomb.

“M-Maybe I should take N-Nova to Hawaii,” Drunk Rick mused, stifling down the urge to vomit as he rolled his head back and forth on his workbench, “She thinks I hate her… The fuck is she thinking? I can’t even get up in the morning without thinking about her.”

“O-Oh,” I blurted out, my eyes glued to the screen as Million Ants and Supernova made quick work of the Three Pointer Challenge and Alan Rails started accusing them of some alleged infidelity. Rick’s eyes were still trained on me, however, much to Morty’s chagrin as he continued disarming the bomb without Rick’s help.

“I mean, s-she’s not the brightest when it comes to my work but sh-she’s just brings me so much peace. Like a stupid amount of peace that I don’t deserve,” Drunk Rick continued almost incoherently, “She doesn’t expect me to be the s-smartest guy in the room and sh-she’s never wanted me to solve all of her p-problems even though I’ve tried like hell and p-p-put more effort into her problems - oh, fuck I’m gonna puke - th-than I’ve put into anything else in my life. I-I-I don’t know, sh-she’s just so-so-so special to me. And sh-she keeps asking me what’s wrong and I-I-I don’t know how to explain it to her. I-I-I can’t get drunk and tell her, I mean look what do when I’m just mildly irritated with Morty,” he rambled. I couldn’t stop the watery giggle from falling out of my mouth as my eyes flicked to Rick again. He and Morty were struggling with the drunkenly improvised bomb but my small outburst didn’t go unnoticed by Supernova behind us.

“Something funny to you, girl?” she hissed, her voice wavering. I tore my eyes away from the screen to find Alan, well, everywhere. While I had been enraptured in the drunken ramblings of the emotionally closed-off man I’d fallen in love with, Supernova’s affair with Million Ants had come out into the open. The fight had turned deadly when Supernova had confirmed Million Ants’ superiority in the bedroom, leaving the sentient ant colony to defend the woman he loved. The fight ended when Million Ants possessed the Ghost Train Conductor or whatever the hell he was and exploded him from within, surprisingly killing the “undead” man.

“I-I-I wasn’t- I-I-I didn’t,” I stammered as she descended towards me at an alarming pace. 

“You think you can just wander through here while all of my friends are killed at the hands of your… boyfriend,” she spat the word out as though it left a disgusting film in her mouth. “Who’s to say you deserve to live when my team has reduced to shambles.”

“You touch her and what happened to your friends will seem like a day in the park after I’m done with you,” Rick threatened lazily, barely looking up from the bomb as Supernova drew closer.

“Rick!” I squeaked, trembling as the cosmic grew closer, the energy from her righteous anger pulsing around her.

“She’s not going to do shit,” Rick said dismissively, focusing in on the bomb as Morty’s attention was drawn away. “There we go. Disarmed.”

“Y-You’re supposed to be heroes!” Morty bellowed, standing up to face the cosmic atom bomb in front of me. “She hasn’t done anything to you! Leave her alone!” 

“Morty- Don’t,” I urged him, as he moved closer to the ticking time bomb in front of me. His words seemed to have an effect, however, and the pulsing around Supernova shrunk as she stood down.

“You will all pay for Rick’s crimes,” she declared coldly. With a flick of her wrist, cuffs appeared around our wrists. “I don’t want you three disappearing once this is over, all of these deaths are on your hands.”

“Oh, come on, maybe a couple of them, but definitely not the train guy,” Rick scoffed, quickly searching the black bands around his wrists for a way out but coming up empty.

“All of them,” Supernova hissed, launching one of the planets hovering around her into Rick’s groin. I moved to rush to his side, only to be launched away from him with another of her planets. “Not so fast. Rick won’t leave you behind, judging by his drunken ramblings, so you’re what I like to call… insurance.” Million Ants made the final three-pointer, allowing the door to open to one final room. It was a simple room, only a small pedestal sitting in the middle of it.

“All right, by now, I've been pretty clear that I think the Vindicators are full of shit,” Drunk Rick slurred on the monitor, taking a bite out of his piece of pizza, “But... you do have one thing I'll never have and probably another that I probably won’t have much longer. The first is the only part of the Vindicators that has any value to me and the second the most amazing thing in the room, besides me. So if you know what they are, place them on the platform. Guess wrong and the pla-planet will explode. And probably the solar system, 'cause I kind of fucking eyeballed the neutrino bombs on this one.”

“So what's the trick? Morty, you're the Drunk Rick expert,” Supernova asked callously, looking between Morty and me.

“I think for the first one... no matter what we put on there, we die. He said it's the part of the Vindicators he values. That means nothing. He wants our last moment alive to be spent knowing how few fucks he gave.”

“Jesus! Okay, open to second opinions!” Supernova glared, looking around at each of us.

“I-It could be Morty,” Rick admitted reluctantly.

“What?!”

“Hey, I don't know,” he shrugged. “I mean, look, when I get drunk, I get stupid and emotional and there's no logic to it. We all heard all that shit from the last room. It's, like, possible I got so drunk, I felt like I was losing Morty to the Vindicators, and maybe this is my way of saying ‘Okay, you can have him, but only if you know how important he is, otherwise I'll kill you.’”

“That is a... really specific guess,” Million Ants remarked.

“Look, I... there's nothing in the room but us. I'm just using logic to connect some dots. It's the best guess I've got.”

“But you're betting our lives on it,” Supernova said accusingly.

“I'll cover that bet. I get it,” Morty said smugly, heading for the platform.

“Wait, Morty, I think you're making that smirky face because you're misinterpreting the moment,” Rick said urgently, “I am not being coy about some hidden love for you. I want to be really clear that, if anyone has a better guess, like, if I gave you an amulet last night, or-” A loud ding rang out and everyone let out a sigh of relief before a chair shot up and scooped up Morty.

“Oh, shit,” Rick swore, staring at the now-empty platform.

“Alright. The second one?” Drunk Rick demanded expectantly.

“Well, go ahead, Nova.” Rick nodded at the platform in frustration.

“M-Me?” I stuttered. “I just watched that thing eat Morty. I don’t think I’m in a hurry to hop on up.”

“Look, he said the most amazing thing in the room. It’s definitely none of these assholes. Do you really think I’m going to hurt you, drunk or not?” Rick said flatly. I walked up to the platform hesitantly, glancing at Rick one last time before another seat appeared, dropping me into a cardboard Tunnel of Love.

“Jesus Nova, couldn’t just stay out of the line of fire could you,” Drunk Rick chuckled, twisting his hands over as I floated down the long tunnel. “Look, I’m sorry I’ve been such a dick and I’m really sorry you had to go through all of these hacky shenanigans to prove my point to the Vindicators and Morty. I brought you down here because I just didn’t know how to tell you how much I was struggling with all of this. Watching you hurting- Seeing you walk out into that lake and not come back up. Jesus Nova, you know you’re everything to me, right?” His voice cracked and the tears welled in my eyes instantly. “It’s not like I can’t relate though, believe me. When I came back, it was just to give Beth some closure before I killed myself but when I saw you- when I saw the way you looked at me, something changed in me. For once, I can’t explain it.

“I’m sorry for leaving you with these assholes too, by the way. I thought you were going to come with me like you usually do and when you didn’t I just- I don’t know, I took it personally I guess. I got about twenty minutes away before I shut my damn ego up and flew back.” The cart pulled up to the final monitor and much to my surprise, Drunk Rick was crying. “I can’t do this without you, Nova. Please, despite all of the logic in your brain, please don’t give up on me.” I bit my lip, fighting back tears as I stared at the broken man on the screen in front of me. “So just, you know, think about it okay? Whatever you want, I’ll accept but I don’t want to lose you. I’m sorry I couldn’t just say this to your face. I’m just… so sorry. Alright Nova, I’ll, uh, I’ll see you later.” The cart sped back up the track and soon I was being raised back up through the platform. Morty looked less than amused standing next to his grandfather but I started to rush into his arms, only for one of Supernova’s planets to launch me back to her side.

“Not so fast, girl,” she hissed. The room shuddered and the entire platform began rising from under us.

“I sense this means we’re not dying,” Million Ants said, surveying the room.

“Not all of us,” Supernova said darkly, using her telekinesis to hold Rick, Morty and I up by our throats.

“Sweetheart…” Million Ants started gently, moving toward Supernova.

“Just let Titty-Bean do this, Snuzzles. It's for the greater good,” she replied irritably.

“Titty-Bean?--” 

“Greater Good?--” we sputtered under her force-grasp that grew tighter with each movement.

“It's like you said, Morty: there's no right or wrong,” Supernova hissed, hovering closer to Morty.

“Never said that!”

“It's the galaxy's faith in the Vindicators that keeps the galaxy secure!”

“Yeah, I feel safer already,” Rick muttered sarcastically.

“No doubt. Who do we make the check out to?” I replied, meeting his gaze for a moment.

“Titty-Bean, listen to me. When you came to me, I was merely a sentient colony of ants. It was your beliefs, your pursuit of justice, that taught me to be a man,” Million Ants said soothingly, pulling her closer to him. We fell to the ground, sputtering for air as Supernova became distracted with Million Ants. Rick pulled me into his arms, desperately clinging to me for dear life as he patted my hair down. 

“When did it get so complicated?” she asked mournfully, nuzzling into his hand. 

“Who knows? But we can make it simple again.”

“You were always the romantic,” she remarked sadly before taking a step back from him, her eyes narrowed. “Which is why you can't leave either.” We watched in horror as she dug her hand into his chest and extracted his Queen Ant, crushing it in her palm. “Goodbye, my love.”

“Damn! She double-crossed Snuzzles!” Rick exclaimed, pulling away from me momentarily as she descended upon us.

“Silence! I'm going to enjoy this,” she hissed, raising her hands in front of her. As I buried my face into Rick’s chest, airhorns interrupted her attack as the platform finally reached its destination.

“Let's give a huge thanks to Rick Sanchez for killing Worldender, putting this awesome party together, and for booking one of the hottest talents out there: Logic!” an announcer called out and a spotlight descended upon us. Supernova lowered her hands, realizing the sheer volume of witnesses surrounding her.

“Look at that. Geez, I must've planned a whole party. Invited a bunch of people. Not bad, Drunk Rick, not bad,” Rick said, pulling himself to his feet before extending a hand out to me and pulling me to my feet. As Logic started a song about the Vindicators, Supernova slipped into the crowd, much to Morty’ dismay.

“Rick! Supernova’s getting away!” he shouted, pointing at the section she disappeared into.

“Oh well,” Rick shrugged, dancing along to the song.

“But… she was trying to kill us!” Morty retorted.

“Morty, twenty people try to kill me every week. I end up getting high with half of 'em,” Rick assured him flatly. “J-J-Just enjoy the festival, alright? I’ll worry about her later.”

It looked like just about everyone had gotten an invite as Beth, Summer, and Madi squeezed through the crowd over to us. I hugged Madi tightly before Summer pulled her into the crowd to introduce her to some of the friends she’d made adventuring with Rick.

“So, I’ll just assume nothing is going to happen to her here?” I asked Rick nervously, watching her hair bounced as Summer pulled her behind.

“Look, I invited Beth to this, she should be safe.” I narrowed my eyes at him, unconvinced but he just groaned, grabbing my hand. “Come on, let’s party.”

* * *

When we finally got home, the exhaustion from being in a life or death situation hit me like a truck. The moment I fell into my bed, I was out like a light. When I finally woke back up a day later, I was surprised to find Rick sprawled out next to me, sleeping peacefully with his arm draped over me. I carefully extracted myself from underneath him and made my way to the bathroom, desperate for a shower. As I opened my door, I found Morty headed in the same direction.

“O-O-Oh, hey Aunt Nova,” he mumbled, his eyes trained on the ground in front of him. “W-Were going to take a shower?”

“Y-Yeah, but you go ahead. I waited this long, I can wait a little bit longer,” I assured him, moving to head back into my room.

“I-I-I heard what Rick said, in the Hawaii room,” he said quickly, grabbing my wrist. “I’m not saying I was wrong about him, but I get what you see in him, I guess. A-A-And, I guess how he feels about you too? He’s still a dick and piece of shit a-a-and you deserve better but-”

“It’s okay Morty, I understand,” I assured him quickly. He looked relieved, waving as he headed for the bathroom. I went back into my room to find Rick stirring, sitting up and rubbing his eyes as he looked up at me.

“I was starting to think you were in a fucking coma, you know,” he yawned at me.

“I don’t know, something about almost dying just makes me really tired, not sure what that’s all about,” I shrugged sarcastically. “Speaking of which, we should probably talk about all of that.”

“Yeah, I get a little… dramatic when I drink. Sorry about that,” he groaned, standing up and stretching.

“Well, yeah. That was something else, but I’m talking about what happened when I got up on the platform,” I said cautiously, watching his face for a reaction.

“What about it? I don’t remember anything from that night? I probably just called you like, super pretty for five minutes,” he said defensively. “Did I say something fucked up? Morty was not happy with me after coming out of his.”

“N-No, not quite,” I chuckled. “No, it was more along the lines of you being worried I was going to leave you or whatever. You know that’s never going to happen, right? A lot of bad shit has happened since you’ve been back. I’ve been kidnapped, you killed my husband and maybe even my parents but you haven’t fucked up nearly as bad as you may think you have. I probably wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for you.”

“Well, I mean, if that Rick was going to come kidnap you then you would probably just be stuck living on the Citadel and hella fucking confused,” Rick argued awkwardly.

“So not the point,” I groaned, rolling my eyes at him. “Look, all I’m trying to say is you don’t have to worry about that. I’m not going anywhere. Effectively, you’re stuck with me.”

“Are you okay? With everything that happened?” he asked hesitantly. “Being with me, it’s not a normal life and it never will be.”

“Rick, not to sound cliche but my life has literally never been normal. As long as you bring me home now and then so I can see Madi, I could literally care less. Just don’t leave me, okay?”

“Nova, I told you already, I don’t think that’s possible,” he assured me. “Even that twenty minutes I left you with the Vindicators and Morty was hell. I tried to get back as soon as I could but by the time I got back, you guys were gone.”

“Look, I get it. I’m not going to say it was okay because it wasn’t by any stretch of the imagination but I get it,” I reasoned. “I was drunk and being a dick.”

“Welcome to the club, sweetheart,” Rick laughed, holding his flask up in solidarity. “We’re gonna be okay, right?”

“Oh, I hope not. Putting my neck on the line all the time is half the fun of being with you.”

“I love you too, brat.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I think the next one is gonna be a Halloween inspired one. I watched a movie last night that I really wanted to just force Rick into so I think that's what's going to happen. Probably won't be anywhere near as oooey gooey as this one was but I can't resist making Rick a goshdang sap because it's my god given right. Hahaha.
> 
> Be sure to let me know what you think! Unless it's mean and just generally not constructive in which case pls don't because I am soft and my feelings bruise easily.
> 
> OH! I wanted to mention that I am looking for a Beta Reader. I mainly want someone who I can plot with and bounce ideas off of (and maybe an itsy bit of just proofreading) so if someone wants to take pity on me and help me I would probably kiss the ground you walk on. I've done 14 chapters by myself and I keep running into walls and that's what takes me so long to do updates lately. Thank you so much!


	4. Every You, Every Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nova is stressed so Rick tries to make things a little more interesting by taking her to Aeon, a casino outside of time and space.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thar be smuts here.  
And no Halloween chapter because... well this happened instead.

Things fell back into a comfortable pace when we finally made it home with Rick even sleeping in my room more often than not. The coffee I shared with Beth every morning before she left for work was already awkward enough without Rick stumbling loudly out of my room, much to her chagrin. She insisted she didn’t mind, that she was happy for us, but I could still see the twinges of jealousy in her eyes as she watched her father stumble out of my room in my robe in search of his own cup of coffee. 

In an attempt to reconcile with her, I spent most of my days scrolling through job listings. On one particular afternoon, I had taken up my search across from Rick when he was at his workbench. I let out a guttural groan after scrolling through the same thirty listings I’d seen for the past two weeks, earning me a raised eyebrow from the irritable scientist sitting on the other side of the workbench.

“Y-You mind keeping your existential despair down over there?” Rick asked, looking up from whatever he was working on with an unconvincing scowl on his face.

“Oh, I’m sorry, was my overwhelming stress bothering you?” I asked, meeting his gaze with narrowed eyes as I tried to mask the grin forming on my face.

“W-Well, yeah. Yo*uuurp*u mind taking it elsewhere if you’re going to be a nuisance?” he growled, returning to his gadget with a dramatic huff.

“Oh, I’m so terribly sorry,” I smirked, rolling my eyes as I gathered my laptop to stalk off.

“I was gonna go out in a little bit, i-i-if you wanted to come with me,” he offered, spinning around in his chair and looking genuinely surprised I had taken his complaints seriously.

“Wouldn’t want my- what did you call it? Oh- extentistial despair to distract you in anyway,” I sighed, resisting the urge to grin at him again.

“W-Well, I was hoping it would get your mind off of it.”

“Aren’t you just so thoughtful?”

“I-It’s been said... from time to time-” 

“Never. I think you mean never.”

“I-I’m sure someone’s had the wrong idea before.”

I sighed, turning away from Rick and walking to the edge of the garage in contemplation. I could choose to stay here and commiserate over why failure seemed inevitable on the job front or I could go out with Rick and just lose myself in an adventure with him. As I weighed between responsibility and fun, my eyes fell onto my old house next door. It filled my heart with a petty glee to see the house falling into minor disrepair as weeds invaded the formly meticulously kept garden and small groups of crab grasses sprouted up across the lawn. Once the police had finally given me access again, Rick, Beth, and I started destroying the cameras that had kept me locked in the house. It was cathartic to say the least but I still hadn’t stepped foot back in since. There were too many memories haunting those walls and I’d sooner tear the place down than go back into it.

“Alright, let’s go,” I sighed, tearing my eyes away before the nightmares could find their way back in. I sat my laptop down for a moment, a low moan leaking out as my legs stretched as a chill ran down my spine at the sheer relief in it. With a yawn, I headed for the door to go change out of my pajamas and into something more suited for adventure.

“D-D-Don’t worry about getting dressed,” Rick stopped me, making one last adjustment to his device before pulling himself out of his chair with a groan and directing me to his ship.

“Rick, seriously?” I asked, gesturing down to my cartoon covered sweatpants, tattered tank top and flip flops. “I’ll be like, two seconds. You telling me you can’t wait?”

“N-No,” he growled, “You don’t have anything to wear that would fit in where we’re going. We’re going to have to stop along the way.”

“Oh,” I gasped softly, following him to the ship. “So, where are you taking me then?”

“Look, will you just take ‘it’s a surprise’ as a sufficient answer so I can have a bit of fun with this?” Rick scowled as I climbed into the ship, eyeing him hesitantly.

“I mean, I suppose I really don’t have much choice otherwise, do I?” I asked him, eyes narrowed at him as a smirk played on my cheeks.

“That’s what I love about you, you always catch on quickly.”

* * *

Our first stop was at an off-world intergalactic mall. Rick sent me into a large dress shop, shoving a large wad space cash into my hands and instructing me to “go nuts”. He departed with a kiss on the cheek as he headed into a Blips and Chitz further into the mall, muttering something about unfinished business.

The humanoid eel creature at the counter turned her nose up to me at first, eyeing my shabby attire until she caught sight of the fistful of cash I was carrying. Her demeanor shifted in an instant, ushering me past the clearance rack I had been eyeing to instead show me the latest gowns they’d just received. She ensured me I would be on the cutting edge of whatever charity gala or ball I would be donning the gown to as I flipped nervously past gowns with price tags I couldn’t read.

“I-I don’t know how much this is-” I held out the wad of cash in my hand to her nervously “-I was just kind of sent here and told to ‘go nuts’’.”

She eyed me suspiciously but remained silent as she quickly counted the money, handing it back with a satisfied smile. She started pulling gowns down, holding them in front of me to get an idea of what would look best before leading me to the lavish dressing rooms in the back of the store. Sizing proved to be no issue as the fabric adjusted itself around me, being snug in all the right places and scooping around my breasts in a scandalous way. After a montage worthy amount of changing, we decided on a long, black sleeveless number. It boasted a light train following behind me and a neckline I knew Rick wouldn’t be able to take his eyes off of. She grabbed a pair of heels and a set of jewels for me to wear before pushing a large device over my head, letting it rest on my shoulders. Panic set in as my hair began pulling away from my scalp gently before it was doused and dried my hair quickly and a light spray methodically worked its way over my face. A soft chime rang out and the clerk lifted device with ease, handing me a mirror to take in my appearance. I barely recognized the face staring back at me. My hair fell gently over my shoulders in delicate waves and my makeup was done with skill I’d never possess. The sales clerk led me over to a full length mirror and I was taken aback by my reflection.

I looked so… elegant.

The clerk pointed to the rest of my outfit, sliding my heels and jewelry over to me. The heels were matte black with five inch heels and I stood up nervously in them, I was relieved to discover they were fitted with a balance technology that made walking as easy as if I was barefoot. The jewels hanging from my neck and ears sparkled with purple and blue hues, adding the perfect pop of color to offset the dark gown with the added benefit of accenting my eyes.

“T-Thank you,” I stammered, staring into the mirror to take in the finished product. I handed her back the wad of cash, waving my hand away as she offered me my change as I continued to thank her profusely. I wandered out of the shop in a haze, barely noticing when Rick approached me looking over his shoulder nervously until his eyes fell on me.

“H-Holy shit, Nova,” he gaped, looking me over completely. “You look fucking amazing.”

“I know, right?” I grinned proudly, looking down in amazement at my own cleavage.

“Are you ready then?” he asked with a grin, his eyes struggling to meet mine.

“I guess we’re not going on the usual kind of adventure then?” I trembled, my confidence gone at the reminder of the uncertainty ahead of us.

“You could say that.”

* * *

We landed in a large valet, the dinginess of Rick’s ship incredibly apparent next to all of the flashy ships parked around us. A Morty came out to greet us, taking the keys out of Rick’s hand before climbing into the ship and flying off to a garage. My eyes bulged at the sight, turning quickly to Rick with my eyes narrowed.

“Are we back on the fucking Citadel?” I hissed, looking around for the sea of Ricks and Mortys going about their daily lives.

“N-N-No,” Rick assured me quickly. “W-Well, kinda. N-N-Not really. This is a getaway for Ricks. It was built as somewhere to put all the Rickless Mortys and also give Ricks a place to relax when shit gets too serious.”

“So, there’s still going to be a shit ton of Ricks here,” I groaned, walking toward the entrance. The large doors slid open smoothly, allowing me to storm right into a large casino filled with Ricks and Mortys just as I had feared, but also a large variety of other otherworldly creatures. I stopped in my tracks as I looked over the sea of people gambling obscene amounts only to shrug off their losses and slide another tower back out into the circle.

“Welcome to Aeon,” another Morty greeted us. “Do you have a reservation in our hotel for the evening?”

“Y-Yeah,” Rick confirmed, pushing past me gently to handle the Morty in front of us leaving me to continue staring out over the casino floor. A large cluster of Ricks surrounded a craps table, cheering loudly after the shooter let the dice fly out of his hand. Another Rick was ordering a drink from the Morty cocktail server before turning back to a poker table. He looked at his hand, a look of irritation growing on his face as slammed the cards down, tossing a couple chips on top. I didn’t get to see if he’d won as Rick grabbed my hand gently as the Greeter Morty led us to the elevator to show us to the room Rick had reserved for the night.

The room was extravagant, with a full bar directly in front of us as we entered. A Bartender Morty portalled in and Rick ordered himself a drink immediately, allowing me to venture further into the luxurious room. A large four poster bed with delicate fabric draped down sat in the middle of the next room with a large television and sofa at the foot of it. The bed’s linens were quite possibly the softest thing I’d ever touched and I found myself running my hand over the fabric again and again. Rick entered the room behind me, quietly watching as I was mesmerized by a blanket.

“It’s alright, I guess,” he shrugged, setting his empty glass down and pointing to another door in the corner of the room, “You should check out the bathroom. True whirlpool jets, Nova. I’ve gotten lost in those damn things more times than I can count.”

“You’ve been here a lot, I take it?” I asked, breaking my attention from the linens to follow Rick’s suggestion.

“Yeah, this place isn’t called the Aeon for nothing,” Rick explained, “Time literally doesn’t exist here. You could spend ages here and no time passes. It’s outside of the ebb and flow of time.”

“So- Wait, what?” I asked, mouth agape as I turned to face him.

“Don’t think too hard about it, okay?” Rick smirked, “Let’s just put it this way, you could stay fifty years in this place and Madi wouldn’t think you’d been gone longer than an afternoon.”

“B-But, wouldn’t I be ancient by the time I got back?”

“Nope, I’m telling you, no time passes. You won’t age, you won’t gain any weight from any of the food you technically don’t need to eat… The only consequences you face here are with your wallet.”

“That’s… that’s crazy. So you could live here, forever?”

“I-I mean, if you had an infinite amount of money, sure. The fifty years thing was just an exaggeration, this place is not cheap.”

“I can tell,” I grinned, gesturing around to the expensive decor around the room.

“The Flesh Curtains have a show tonight,” Rick remarked, picking up the daily itinerary from the dresser.

“F-Flesh Curtains?” I sighed, biting my lip to resist a laugh.

“So, back in the day, my friends Birdperson and Squanchy formed a band called Flesh Curtains with me. Most Ricks do it but don’t stick with it. These guys are from a timeline that stuck with it and became a success.”

“I hardly consider playing in a casino success,” I said with a snort, glancing over at Rick in disbelief to find him staring at the pamphlet with a glassy look in his eyes.

“Psh,” he said finally, shaking the look away and clearing his throat. “It wouldn’t be so bad, I guess.”

“You wanna go back downstairs? Maybe we’ll go see the show tonight?” I offered softly, moving closer and lacing my hand into his. A devilish grin spread over his face as he pulled the door open.

“You know how to play blackjack, right?”

* * *

When we made it back to the floor, Rick made a beeline to the first empty blackjack table he could find. The Ricks around us watched us pass, not taking their eyes off of me until Rick shot them a dangerous look. The Morty at the table greeted us, scooping the cards back up and deftly shuffling them again before loading them back into the shoe and waiting for our buy-ins.

“Player’s cards?” he asked, bored. Rick tossed me a handful of colorful bills before pushing his over to the dealer along with a black card. Morty quickly cut out his chips, calling out the total and waiting for his supervisors approval before sliding two stacks of black and green chips across the table to Rick. He turned to me expectantly, raising an eyebrow when I hesitated.

“How much do I give him?” I whispered to Rick, unable to read the symbols on the money.

“Just give him all of it. Trust me, it’s enough.”

I pushed the money across with a trembling hand, earning a sigh from Morty as he counted it up and slid me my own stack of black and green chips.

“Place your bets.”

“Alright, so all you have to do is play one at a time,” Rick said, pushing the chips closer to me. “You’ll be playing the minimum so if you start doing well, feel free to up your bet.”

“I see we have a special guest tonight,” the floor supervisor Rick remarked as Morty started dealing the cards out. “Not often we see a Nova in-”

“-In here. Yeah, yeah, I get that a lot,” I waved him off, not meeting his gaze. I tried to remember the basic strategy rules for blackjack as Morty checked his own hand for blackjack.

“I-I bet,” Floor Rick stuttered, looking between my Rick and I. Rick ignored him, tapping the table to get another card. Nineteen. He waved it off with a satisfied sigh, pulling out a pack of cigarettes from his lab coat. The Floor Rick grabbed an ashtray, sliding in front of Rick before turning his attention back to me.

“Eleven,” Morty said, moving his hand from Rick’s hand to mine.

“Double it,” Floor Rick said with a shrug, “It’s a good hand for doubling. All you need is a ten.” I sighed, sliding another chip up next to my initial bet, wincing as Morty slapped the card down on top of it and quickly went to his own hand. Twenty One.

“Twelve. Sixteen. Bust,” he called out flatly as he played his own hand out, quickly paying us our chips and scooping the cards up before chucking them into the discard rack.

“Nice one, Nova. You two let me know if you need anything,” Floor Rick said with a sly grin, pushing himself away from the table and going to check on another table.

“I seriously hope every fucking Rick in this place isn’t going to be on you like that all night,” Rick groaned as Morty dealt out another hand.

“Well, even if they are, I can handle it,” I assured him.

“I-I-It’s just fucking annoying,” Rick grumbled, watching Morty bust his hand again. 

We play for another hour before the Supervisor Rick made his way back over to us, making more uncharacteristically friendly conversation with me before being relieved to go on break. The Relief Floor Rick was also enamoured by my presence but kept it to himself, watching me silently from the adjacent table’s computer system.

“Twenty one,” Morty declared, scooping our bets up and placing them in the rack. Rick groaned in frustration, counting his chips angrily.

“That’s five fucking hands in a row, Nova. This is mathmatically fucking impossible,” he lamented, eyeing the stacks of green in front of me suspiciously. “How in the hell have you been doing so well?”

“Just lucky, I guess,” I shrugged, sliding a stack of five into the circle and looking at his expectantly.

“There’s no such thing as fucking luck,” Rick grumbled under his breath, slamming a chunk of black chips into the circle and looking up at Morty.

“W-Wait, before you deal-” I interrupted, holding my hand up to him and smiling softly. A cocktail Morty had come by, calling Rick’s attention away in search of something strong enough to drown his sorrows in. “Do you guys get tips? Like, as a paycheck or something.”

“Y-Yea. Usually doesn’t amount to much though,” he remarked spitefully, his eyes resting on Rick’s back as he spoke.

“So if I put money up for you, you get it if we win?” I grinned devilishly. He nodded quickly, his eyes lighting up as I slid a chip in front of my bet with a wink. “Let’s make you some money kiddo.”

Morty started dealing the hand out as Rick turned back around, handing me a small glass as he watched the hand come out. Another fifteen for Rick and two sevens for me, with Morty showing a six.

“Split them, Nova,” Rick suggested, waving his hand off before pulling out another cigarette.

“Since when do you smoke?” I asked, wrinkling my nose as I slid more chips out and signaled for the split.

“It’s a casino thing. Something about this place just makes me want a cigarette,” he shrugged. “You’re betting for Morty? Y-Y-Your streaks coming to an end now.”

“Eleven, Au- er -Nova,” Morty stammered, focusing his attention on the cards. I slid another six chips out, doubling the hand for a solid nineteen. The other hand turned into seventeen, leaving me to wave it off and hope for the best.

“Looks like I’m doing just fine,” I smirked, looking over to Rick. He didn’t respond, gesturing to Morty’s hand across the table.

“Twenty,” he called out mournfully, scooping up the bets and thanking me.

“Here, just take it,” I said stubbornly, not taking my eyes off of Rick as I tossed him a couple chips for him to drop in his toke box.

“T-T-Thank you, Aunt Nova,” he said, his cheeks flushing at my name again. 

“Tonight in our Event Center, come see Flesh Curtains, only at Aeon!” a voice called over the intercom. Rick checked his watch, sighing inwardly as his slid his remaining chips across to Morty.

“Color me up,” he ordered, sliding our money to Morty before turning to me, “You ready to go see the greatest band in existence?”

“Greatest band, huh?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at him as he grabbed his money and finished his drink. He didn’t respond, taking my hand and pulling me through the sea of aliens and Ricks headed to the Event Center. The Mortys scanning tickets looked frustrated as devices were thrust into their faces by desperate fans. Rick pushed our way to a lone Rick standing guard, flashing his black card again and speaking in low tones. Whatever he said must have had an effect as the Rick dropped the rope, allowing Rick and I through to the back door and into the cavernous theater.

Seats were squashed together as aliens milled into the theater, finding their seats. Rick moved around them deftly, pulling me behind him to a small door by the stage where we were met with a bored looking Morty who let us pass after Rick flashed his card at him again.

“So is that just a ‘get whatever the fuck you want’ card?” I asked as the door to backstage closed behind me with a soft click.

“I guess you could call it that. I used to be in here all the time. I’m an Ultra member here.”

“Where in the hell is all this money coming from?” I demanded, quietly jealous of Rick’s seemingly endless supply of income.

“W-Well, you see- I’ve made some things that- W-Well- You remember Scar, right?” he stammered, running his hand through his hair.

“Yes…” I drew out, ignoring the ache that echoed through my chest at the memory of the Rick that saved my life.

“Well, I d-did that- I DO that a lot,” he said, shifting awkwardly before returning his hand to his hair.

“Oh.”

“Yeah, so while I may not have a lot of Earth’s currency, I do pretty damn well otherwise,” he explained hesitantly as we approached a large door with a star bedazzled to it. Rick knocked that same knock he used on Scar’s door, tapping his foot impatiently before the door swung open to reveal another Rick that made my jaw drop.

“Rick N-682, as I fucking live and breathe,” he smirked, shaking Rick’s hand before his gaze rested on me. This Rick was a sight to behold. His loose blue tank top dipped lazily down to his jeans, giving me a tantalizing view of his navel. I pulled my eyes away from his skull belt buckle long enough to notice how much younger than my Rick, confirming his claims about time’s effect, or lack thereof, here. He nodded in acknowledgement at me before leading us into his dressing room, a small grin playing on his cheek. I couldn’t take my eyes off of him, drinking in his every movement as he talked caught up with Rick.

“I see you haven’t changed,” Rick remarked, his eyes tracing to a closed door before meeting the other Rick’s gaze. “This is my Nova, by the way. Nova, this is Rick F-287.”

“Just call me Ricky, it’s a lot easier,” the much more laid back version of my Rick assured me.

“Oh! Another Nova!” a voice called out from another room. My reverie was broken when another… me appeared out of a makeshift bedroom wearing an excited look and more fishnets and dark makeup than I’ve ever owned. I felt out of place in comparison to her relaxed wear but I had to admit, I looked fucking hot. 

“Baby, why don’t you don’t you introduce her to the others,” her Rick suggested, gesturing behind her.

“Oh! Sure, come with me,” Punk Nova grinned, grabbing my hand and pulling me behind her. I spared one last fleeting glance back at my Rick before she closed the door behind us..

The ‘Others’ it turned out was more… Novas. This Rick had a veritable harem of Novas just hanging out in his dressing room. My vision spun at the sight of them, my knees going weak before Punk Nova grabbed me by my shoulder and led me over to the couch.

“You okay?” a Nova with bright pink hair asked urgently, coming to rest at my side. She was a stark contrast to the punk Nova who led me in here, wearing a tight lilac t-shirt with the Flesh Curtains plastered on the front with a short blue skirt and neon makeup. My tunnel vision was becoming worse as I stared into her face blankly. It felt like I was looking through one of those filters Madi had on her phone but I could feel her hand on my back rubbing soothingly.

“Seriously, P-465?” another Nova with long dark hair chimed in, pulling her away to give me space to breathe. 

“Goddammit, Kat. It’s Pinkie. You know that,” she reared back at annoyed looking version of me.

“K-Kat? P-Pinkie?” I stammered, trying to make sense of everything. “Y-Y-You’re not Novas?”

“It’s only fucking Pinkie when you’re not on my last goddamn nerve,” Kat retorted before looking back at me with a sigh. “No, we’re Novas. We’ve adopted nicknames so we can keep each other straight. It gets old when some says Nova and five people respond.”

“Y-Y-Yea, makes total sense,” I nodded numbly. “W-What are you all doing here?”

“Why don’t you just get your head on straight, first,” Punk Nova said comfortingly. “I’m Riff, by the way. That’s Harley-” she pointed to a fourth Nova with red and black hair “-and fuck knows where Norma went. She’s new around these parts.”

“S-So, you guys are h-here because you want to be r-r-right?”

“Of course we are! We lost our Ricks, so Ricky takes care of us,” Pinkie gushed, staring at the door. My stomach churned at her infatuation with the rockstar, knowing exactly which dark part of me that stemmed from.

“Ugh, she makes it sound so weird,” Kat groaned, glaring at the pink haired version of her. “My Rick blew himself up, so I tried to go to the Citadel for help because I was heartbroken. They couldn’t help but they sent me to… him. He took me in and he does take care of me but it’s not how Pinkie makes it sound. I’m not helpless without him. I just didn’t want to… be without him.”

“I’m sorry I love him, Kat,” Pinkie shot coldly, “I don’t want him to think I’m taking him for granted.”

“Jesus fucking christ,” Riff swore, “just shut the fuck up Pinkie.”

“Rick knows how I feel about him,” Kat hissed, advancing toward Pinkie.

“Kat, don’t.” Riff tried to mediate between the two but the fury in Kat’s eyes was unlike anything I’d ever seen in the mirror. “She’s not worth it.”

“You know he hates it when you two fight,” Harley groaned, finally pulling her nose out of the book she’d been reading. “He’s about to go on stage, he doesn’t need you at each other's throats.”

The bickering between the four continued as I watched, unable to believe any of it. How were these girls… me? Sure we were physically identical for the most part but the difference in our personalities was glaring.

“Ladies, ladies,” Ricky mitigated, clapping his hands as he entered the room. My Rick followed closely behind him, the smirk lurking beneath the surface coming to fruition as he met my eye.

“She started it!” Pinkie cried, running into Ricky’s arms. He groaned, pulling her away to look her in the eyes.

“Come on Pinkie,” he growled, “This is just fucking juvenile, you know that right?”

“She kept egging me on,” Kat snarled, standing up defiantly.

“Just- Don’t,” Ricky chastised her, holding up a finger in her direction to silence her. “Pinkie, you need to knock this shit off.”

“I don’t get why she’s here,” Pinkie whined, shooting daggers at Kat.

“N-682, why don’t you and your Nova head out to the balcony seats. I need to take care of this,” Ricky sighed, giving my Rick an apologetic look.

“So that was… weird,” I murmured as we walked back out into the amphitheater to our seats.

“What? Seeing yourself in a thousand different variations?” Rick asked with a grin. “You get used to it.”

“I can’t believe you just let me nose dive into that situation,” I grumbled, shaking my head.

He checked a small sheet of paper that Ricky had given him before pushing through a thick curtain to a small balcony befitted with cozy couches with an excellent view down to the stage. A small group of tittering well-to-do’s were huddled together speaking in low tones, only stopping to lift their piercing gaze to us. Rick shot them a dirty look, pushing past them and flopping down on the couch in front row.

“You would have seen them either way,” he shrugged, kicking his feet up onto the railing, much to the disapproval of the others. “You gonna sit down or what?” 

“Oh shit,” I swore, earning me a dirty look of my own. I sat down on the edge of the couch, back rigid as I fiddled with the hem of my dress. “You know, I think I took our adventures for granted.”

“Oh, did you now?” Rick grinned, raising an eyebrow over at me. “You don’t like your taste of opulence and decadence?”

“Let’s just say, I felt a lot more comfortable in dirty pawn shops and cheap arcades,” I muttered, earning a grin as loudspeaker sounded.

“Hello and welcome guests of Aeon Casino!” an announcer declared as the lights went down and focused on the stage. “Tonight we have a special treat for you, brand new material from the Flesh Curtain’s new album ‘Pushing Buttons’!”

Three figures emerged onto the stage, the crowd roaring with excitement at the sight of them. I recognized Rick immediately but he was joined by what looked like a large bird and a cat. I turned to Rick, my brow furrowed.

“Birdperson and Squanchy,” he shouted over the crowd. “Come on Nova, can’t you just relax and have a little fun?” he asked, pulling me back onto the couch and putting his arm around me. I let out a sigh, trying to emulate the same devil-may-care attitude Rick always had but the eruption of the crowd as the Rick on stage grabbed the mic set me right back on edge. Rick noticed my stiffened demeanor, pulling me in closer and kissing the top of my head.

“What’s up, you pieces of shit!?” Ricky screamed into the mic, surveying the crowd with a smug grin as they roared in delight before passing the mic back to Birdperson.

“Thank you for joining us tonight,” Birdperson said, his voice monotone. I raised an eyebrow at Rick but only received a gentle headshake in response, his eyes trained on the group down below. 

The music was loud and abrasive but I had to admit, I loved it. The group of snobs behind us finally started letting loose as the show went on and they downed drink after drink. They even started sending drinks our way, much to Rick’s delight. When our drinks emptied, another appeared in its place, courtesy of our new friends behind us. Soon enough, one of the women with them grabbed my hand and pulled me in close, dancing sloppily as Rick watched with a bemused grin. My ears were ringing and my cheeks hurt from grinning but I was finally feeling relaxed. No one to judge as I danced and drank, Rick even joining in.

“Squanch you and good night!” the cat on drums shouted before letting out one final drum solo. The show lasted three hours but it truly felt like no time had passed. A large alien bodyguard appeared in our archway, informing Rick and I that Ricky wanted us to come back by his dressing room for an after party. I thanked the group behind before Rick and I followed the creature back down the hallways, pushing through a sea of screaming fans that were just desperate for a glimpse of the band they seemed to live their lives by.

“N-682! You made it!” Ricky shouted, tripping over a large bag of empty beer bottles as Rick pushed his way into the dressing room. While it hadn’t been necessarily clean before, it was truly trashed now. The door to the bedroom had been ripped off its hinges, leaving a perfect view of the Novas doing a line with Squanchy. A group of aliens were spread out on the floor, countless bottles surrounding them as they told stories of antics past while Birdperson sat rigidly in a corner chair, his foot calmly tapping to the beat of the music blasting out of the stereo next to him.

“Rick,” he said evenly, “it is good to see you.”

“‘Pers, my man. Always a pleasure,” Rick said, playfully smacking Birdperson’s shoulder before pulling up a chair next to him. This left me standing awkwardly in the doorway holding my arm and wishing I could just go home or at least back to the room. I opened my mouth to tell Rick but Ricky grabbed my elbow gently.

“Hey, yo*uuurp*u okay?” he asked softly, wearing a look of concern I’d only really seen on my Rick.

“Y-Y-Yeah,” I stammered, shifting nervously and giving my lie away. “I’m just not really good in… social settings, I guess. Plus I’m a little drunk and I’m not even sure why I’m admitting it but here we are.” Ricky chuckled at my rambling but said nothing, nodding over at my Rick and leading me away from the din of the party guests. He opened a door, finding the room occupied by creatures in what looked like a compromising position, slamming it shut quickly as he continued his hunt for somewhere quiet. He finally circled back, going to the only door he had skipped, opening it with an apologetic look.

“Sorry this might not be ideal.”

“This is a bathroom with fresh vomit,” I grinned, holding my fingers under my nose to block most of the smell. The toilet was overflowing with vomit and the sink had its fair share as well. Now this is what I was accustomed to when it came to adventuring with Rick. Dirty surroundings and smells I’d rather not be smelling. I could feel the tension melting away from my shoulders already.

“S-Somehow it doesn’t seem to be bothering you all the much,” he remarked, flushing the toilet fruitlessly.

“This is what my life usually consists of,” I shrugged, “Hell, you get me out of this dress and into some running shoes and I’ll be top of my game.”

He raised an eyebrow, disappearing for a moment and returning with a change of clothes. He held them through the doorway, giving me the privacy to change. I breathed a sigh of relief as I stepped out of the heels and into a black pair of running shoes. I was grateful to get out of the dress, no matter how beautiful it was and into a pair of leggings and Flesh Curtains tank top. I peeked around the door to find Ricky coming back down the hall with a large bottle and two red cups.

“Oh no, no, no,” I grinned, stepping away from him. “I’ve seen how this timeline goes, a bottle and two cups never ends well for me.”

“Oh come on, Nova,” Ricky grinned, pouring a shot into the cup and handing it over to me. “You said you were already drunk. I think that ships sailed.” I considered a moment, biting my lip to fight back the grin playing on my cheek as I stared at the cup.

“How does alcohol even get you drunk here anyway?” I asked, eyeing the bottle. “Rick said there were no consequences here.”

“Nova, this is a fucking casino. Without booze, this place would be entirely pointless.” 

“Alright then, fine,” I relented, taking the cup and trying to fight the grin spreading over my face. I don’t know what it was about him. Maybe it was the booze, maybe it was because he was Rick, even if it was just a different version of him. Maybe it was just the fact he was so kind.

“I knew you’d see reason,” he grinned again, drinking straight from the bottle.

“So why in the hell are you being so nice to me?” I asked, sputtering from the liquor. He raised an eyebrow at me in confusion so I continued, “Like, I’ve been on the Citadel enough for twelve lifetimes. The Ricks there don’t seem to care much about Nova’s there. There was one ready to kill me just to kill my Rick.”

“Oh, damn. I dunno. I like Novas,” he shrugged, pouring us each another shot. “I’m sure your Rick would say I’ve become soft with fame, but I just don’t like seeing Nova’s upset.”

“My Rick would say he’s become soft,” I snorted, taking another drink. “So why do you have a veritable harem here?”

“H-Harem?” he coughed, choking on his drink. “Do you think I keep them around to just fuck them constantly?”

“Well, I mean… what else you be doing with them?”

“Treating them like human fucking beings? If a Nova I meet doesn’t want to sleep with me but needs somewhere to go, I help them. It’s pretty fucking cut and dry,” he explained, “Some stick around, like Pinkie, but some will inevitably move on, like Riff or Kat. I’m a fucking millionaire. I can swing it.”

“But, you’re a Rick, right?” I asked, holding my cup out for more. “From what I’ve come to understand, Ricks don’t do anything without there being a benefit to them.”

“Look, I mean, whatever benefits I get from being around a sea of Novas is inconsequential,” he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck before downing the rest of his drink.

“Aha! I knew it!”

“Who told you that, anyway? That’s a pretty depressing way to view a guy who’s supposed to lo-care about you.”

“My Morty,” I shrugged, sliding down against the wall. “He’s been, uh, pretty insistent on it lately. He wants me to just leave Rick and just go after someone better.”

“Ugh, Morties,” he grimaced, “Look, don’t listen to that twat. He really doesn’t know shit about shit.”

“Agree to disagree on that one, compadre,” I dismissed lazily, my limbs becoming far heavier than I remembered. “W-Where is Rick, anyway?” 

“He was out there talking to Birdperson last I saw,” he reassured me, sliding down against the wall next to me.

“H-He isn’t worried about where I disappeared to?” I slurred sadly, offering my cup back over to Ricky.

“Come on, sweetheart, he knows I’m with you,” he chastised me.

“H-H-How does he know you’re not in here making moves on me or whatever?”

“Because he knows I’m not one of those Ricks,” he growled. “You really don’t trust how he feels about you do you?”

“Wh-Why should I? He never says anything either way,” I mourned, downing the shot and quickly asking for another.

“Look, I can’t speak for your relationship, but I know that Rick. He was one of the first ones I met when the Citadel formed. There are Ricks out there that don’t care about their Novas. Hell, I heard about one a couple months back who let his Nova overdose because if she couldn’t keep up, then she wasn’t all she was chalked up to be. Do you really think that sounds like the guy you’re with?”

“No,” I admitted shamefully, my head drooping slightly as the alcohol weighed it down. “I’ve just been through a lot-”

“Y-Y-You don’t have to launch into the story, I know it all too well,” Ricky stopped me quickly, holding up a hand. “We Ricks aren’t good with the whole… emotional openness garbage. There are a couple oddballs out there but if you think you’re going to get some soft ‘I’ll love you until the end of time’ crap, you’re going to be sorely disappointed.”

I didn’t respond, staring into the murky liquid. Ricky didn’t push me, allowing me to lose myself in my thoughts for what seemed like hours until my eyelids started drooping. I felt Ricky push past me gently, pulling the door out and disappearing through it before I lost the fight and let my eyelids slam shut.

* * *

“N-Nova. H-Hey Nova, come on. Let me help you up, sweetheart. Let’s go home,” a gruff voice murmured. I could feel my limbs being tugged softly as they were pulled over a set of shoulders as I was brought back up to my feet. “Come on, baby, I’ve got you.”

“Wh-Wh-What happened?” I asked, trying to open my eyes. “Where am I? Wh-Who are you?”

“Oh jesus, you really got fucked up,” he chuckled, adjusting fruitlessly over his shoulders before letting out a frustrated sigh. “This is not fucking working. Nova, baby, I need you to hold onto me as tight as you can, okay?”

“O-Okay, mystery man,” I giggled. My arm was brought back around his neck, only for him to lift me up, bridal style. I tried to open my eyes again and caught a glimpse of blue hair before they slid shut again. “Which one are you?”

“I could be any Rick in conceivable existence,” he laughed darkly, “and there would be nothing you could do about it.” I recoiled away from him, trying to fight my way out his embrace to no avail. “Jesus Nova, I was joking. It’s me- I’m your Rick,” he groaned, pulling me in tighter. 

“Oh, good,” I nodded, tucking my head back into his chest. The rhythmic bounce of each step lulled me into a complacent state and by the time he sat me back down, we were in his ship, rocketing through space. 

It was dark when finally landed back in the driveway. Most of the alcohol had left my system, leaving me with a throbbing headache and parched throat. Rick pushed his door over, making his way over to my side to pull me out himself.

“Oh shit, you’re awake.” His voice was husky as he surveyed my lazy form, chuckling to himself before walking over to his workbench. He started mixing chemicals, testing his concoction by taste until it seemed to be satisfying enough. He brought his finished product back over to me, offering it to me.

“No offense, but what the fuck is that?” I asked bluntly.

“L-Look- Just drink it okay? Your fuckin’ head hurts right? This will make it stop.”

I grabbed the cup out of his hand, smelling it once for good measure before downing it. The taste was vile but the pain in my head and stomach stopped up instantly as my vision cleared up. I pulled myself out of the ship, surprised to find my legs steady as I stood up.

“Wh-What was in that?”

“It’s just my hangover cure,” he shrugged. “It’s been saving my ass over the last twenty years.”

“Thanks, Rick,” I murmured, moving closer to him. “For everything. I had a lot of fun.”

“Y-Yeah, no problem,” he stammered, his voice gravelly as he rested his hand on the small of my back. 

My head may have been cleared up by his “cure” but being this close to him was intoxicating all on its own. I bit my lip as I looked up at him, earning me a low growl as he pressed his lips to mind, kissing me desperately. I returned his kiss eagerly, pulling him closer to me. He picked me up with ease, carrying me over his workbench.

“Are you sure you wanna do this out here?” I breathed, breaking the kiss to both of our frustration. “Beth-”

“Beth’s asleep,” he growled, reclaiming my lips. I wanted to continue arguing but his wandering hands pushed the thought right out of my mind. He worked his hand up under my shirt, pleased to find no bra underneath. My breast was cupped in one hand while the other worked its way into my hair, curling around my hair to pull my head away from him. My neck exposed, he watched me squirm underneath of him. I was completely under his control and he was enjoying every moment of it.

“R-Rick- Rick please,” I begged softly, desperate for stimulation of any kind.

“All in good time, sweetheart,” he whispered in my ear, lingering just inches away. “What do you want me to do to you, Nova? Tell me what you want.”

“R-Rick, I-”

“Tell me what you want, sweet girl.”

“I want- I want you, please,” I cried desperately, “I want you so fucking bad.”

“Oh, sweetheart, I know that,” he chuckled darkly. “I want to know what you want me to do to you right now. Do you want me to fuck you? Do you want me to make you scream my name until you forget your own?”

“Jesus, fuck yes, Rick,” I gasped, biting my lip again. He growled softly at the sight, panting softly as he dropped his hand from my breast, searching instead for the warmth below. He traced his fingers around my thighs, making sure to avoid the most sensitive area.

“So you want me to slide my cock in right here?” he asked, tracing a large circle around the throbbing mound between my legs.

“I need it,” I pleaded, clawing at his shoulders in an attempt to pull him closer.

“Who am I to deny you?” he cooed in my ear, releasing my hair and gripping the sides of my yoga pants. He tossed them to the side as the cool air swirled around my exposed lower half. I shivered as I watched him unbuckle his pants, letting them fall lazily to ground as he pushed his way between my thighs. He dragged the tip of his cock up and down my moist slit.

“Oh Rick, oh fuck,” I murmured, my hands firmly rooted on his shoulders.

“Say my fucking name, Nova. Let the neighbors know who’s fucking you,” he growled, continuing his assault on my clit to torturous effect.

“Rick!” I moaned. At my compliance he slid the tip in, sliding it in and out slowly.

“Louder, Nova. I don’t think they heard you,” he ordered, his voice being over by a slight pant.

“Fuck, Rick! It’s you! Rick fucking Sanchez!” I shouted, letting my head fall back. He slammed into me finally as I continued screaming his name as loud as I possibly could. I released his shoulders, laying back on the table and pulling my knees into my chest. He quickened his pace, using his thumb to massage my clit gently.

“Fuck, Nova,” he panted as he buried himself in me, “You feel fucking amazing.”

I could feel my orgasm building, only moments from my release as he fell into a steady rhythm. I would have made there had it not been for the garage door swinging open, slamming into the dryer behind it.

“God fucking dammit, Dad!” Beth bellowed, shielding her eyes from the sight of her father burying his cock into her best friend. “I cannot fucking do this anymore, you guys need to stop!”

“H-Hold on, honey,” Rick grunted, quickening his pace.

“R-Rick, no- Stop,” I insisted, pushing him away from me. He conceded, pulling out of me and bending down to pull his pants up.

“What the fuck do you want, Beth?” he snarled, turning to face his daughter, taking care to shield my exposed form. I looked around desperately for my pants only to find them dangling haphazardly on the Meeseeks box.

“I want this to fucking stop,” she demanded, avoiding my gaze. “You’re waking up the entire fucking house. I sure as fuck don’t want to hear it.”

“B-Beth, I-I’m sorry,” I blushed, pulling my shirt down as much as possible.

“You know what, I don’t want to fucking hear it, Nova. Your daughter is asleep in this house,” she hissed, finally meeting my gaze. A look of fury I had never seen before distorted her features as she glared at me, turning to disgust as her eyes drifted downward. “Dad, you need to stop this, now. Nova, it might be time for you to start looking for somewhere else to live.”

“B-Beth, wait- please, no,” I begged, tears streaking down my cheeks.

“You know, I’m starting to think Jerry was right about you two,” Beth said coldly, “I thought I was okay with it when it meant Dad would stay but I was wrong. What you’re doing with him is wrong. He’s my fucking father, you sick fucking bitch,”

“Jesus fucking christ Beth, stop,” Rick cut in, advancing toward her. “Don’t fucking talk to her like that.”

“Why not?” she asked hysterically. “You two didn’t consider my feelings in the situation. I’m just supposed to be okay with it? Even when the thought makes me feel sick to my stomach?”

“Your fucking hangups are not our problems,” Rick snarled. He grabbed my pants off of the shelf, tossing them back to me. I slipped them on quickly and pushed past Rick.

“Beth, I’m sorry. We were really inconsiderate, I’m so fucking sorry.” I pleaded with my friend to see reason but the cold, clinical disgust in her eyes assured me it was a lost cause.

“You need to leave,” she repeated coldly. “Madison can stay here until you have somewhere to go but I suggest you go back to your house tonight. I don’t want to see you here in the morning.”

“Beth, she’s not going anywhere-”

“No, Rick. It’s fine,” I conceded, wiping the tears away as I pushed the garage door opener.

“No, Nova. You’re not going anywhere,” he roared, pushing the button again. “I-I can fix this.” He started digging through the drawers at his workbench, finally extracting a large gun with two discs. He pushed a couple buttons before aiming it at Beth, pulling the trigger. She crumpled to the floor, eyes glazed over.

“Rick! What did you do to her?” I asked, horrified. “Did you kill Beth?!”

“Wh-What? No?” he retorted, insulted by the accusation. “I just erase the last half an hour from her memory. I’m going to put her back in her bed, when she wakes up she won’t remember any of this.” He pulled a vial from the device, loading it with another before sitting it down on his workbench.

“S-So, everything’s okay now?” I asked numbly. He nodded quickly, pulling Beth over his shoulder. “I’m just- I’m just going to go to bed.”

“Y-You okay?” he asked, stopping at the door to face me.

“I-I’m fine,” I murmured, pushing past him. I couldn’t get Beth’s words out of my head as I went into my room, locking the door behind me before collapsing in my bed.

“ _ He’s my fucking father, you sick bitch. _ ”

Maybe she was right. Maybe it was time for me to leave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to thank my beta, my-sun-my-baelish, for all of the help she's given me. It was her idea to bring Flesh Curtains Rick into the story and he will definitely be back. I cannot wait. :D
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! Let me know what you think. :D
> 
> also, if you haven't found my tumblr yet, i've started making moodboards for this fic along with all sorts of RnM stuff. arcane-supernova.tumblr.com
> 
> Edit: 09/14/20: Hey there everyone, I just wanted you to know this fic has NOT been abandoned even though it's coming up on a year since the last update. I hit a gross patch of writer's block after this chapter, unhappy with anything I put to digital paper. I still think about this fic everyday. I finally have some ideas on how to proceed and hopefully will get the time write them down soon and be back to regular updates again. If I can be perfectly honest, everything I wanted to do, Madison got in the way of. But I smoothed that issue out (without having to kill her character off) and have been hit with a new wave of inspiration!! Thank you so much for continuing to read and leave kudos/comments.


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